Duo Mhlanga & van der Westen

In 1998 guitarist/vocalist Louis Mhlanga and double- bass player Eric van der Westen met for the first time in Johannesburg, where Eric gave some workshops.
At the end of 1998 Eric and Louis recorded the CD 'Song for Nomsa' for Eric's own brand new EWM label. The collaboration was continued in July 1999 when Eric and his group Quadrant went on a tour of South Africa where several national musicians were invited to join the group. Of course Louis was one of them.
At the same time the CD became an 'underground' success and since the release in the autumn of 1999 thousands have been sold despite small-scale production. In 2000 the CD was put on the market in South Africa and it received jubilant reviews. The album was nominated for the SAMA Award, the South African equivalent of the GRAMMY.
In June 2001 they appeared with great success on one of the largest World Music Festivals in the world: Festival Mundial.The duo participated in the Jimi Hendrix Festival December 2001 in the Heineken Arena in Amsterdam NL. Their version of 'All Along the Watchtower' was breathtaking.
In April 2002 the duo played several theaters throughout The Netherlands drawing big crowds.
In April and June 2002 Louis and Eric recorded a new album 'Keeping The Dream' for EWM with a special guest: Malinese guitarist-singer Habib Koité.
The duo appeared with great success on the Grahamstown Arts Festival in South Africa in July 2003 as part of a tour throughout the country.
The CD was released in October 2003 during their second big Dutch-Belgium tour which had a number of sold out shows. Several concerts featured Habib Koité as a special guest.
The duo played of and on for the last couple of years with the last serious tour being fall 2004. Since 2006 Mundial Productions started to do their management so new performances will surely come in 2008.