10 Things You Didn’t Know About Hennie Bekker

732
  1. Hennie Bekker was born in 1934
  2. He is a Juno-nominated
  3. Zambian-born composer, arranger, producer and keyboardist based in Toronto, Ontario, Canada
  4. His work includes jazz fusion, film scoring, new-age and techno
  5. Bekker was born in the Zambian Copper Belt mining town of Nkana Kitwe, and raised 48 km down the road in Mufulira
  6. He first became enamored with piano when, at the age of six, he heard his aunt Ria play the instrument
  7. After his parents bought him a small piano, Bekker taught himself to play, at first studying pianists Carmen Cavallaro, Eddy Duchin and later the sounds of the jazz greats Art Tatum, George Shearing, Oscar Peterson and Bill Evans for inspiration
  8. In 1945, the family relocated to Bulawayo, Southern Rhodesia (later christened Zimbabwe)
  9. He attended Milton Junior School and then the Bulawayo Technical High School
  10. At age 15, Bekker and five of his friends formed a band called “The Youth Marvels” playing the hits of the day