Alex van Heerden

A South African jazz/electronic/ethnic musician and producer born in Port Elizabeth, Alex van Heerden learned to play the trumpet as a means to avoid the school's military training lessons. Soon, he found himself playing jazz in the local "coloured" townships and has since moved to Cape Town. He regularly travelled to Sweden to collaborate with Håkan Lidbo or pianist Magnus Bank and has also performed in Hong Kong and Norway. He was killed in a vehicle accident just north of Cape Town on January 7th, 2009 at the age of 34.