Blaze

Members

Frank Paco

Renowned drummer, percussionist and singer Frank Paco holds an Honours' Degree in jazz Performance with distinction from the University of Cape Town.  He has worked with bands like Sakhile, Loading Zone, Virtual Jazz Reality, Sheer Sound All Stars and great artists such as Jimmy Dludlu, Miriam Makeba, Brenda Fassie, Judith Sephuma, Hugh Masekela and Jonathan Butler, amongst others. He is also an experienced session musician, having played on more than 20 albums for artists like Jimmy Dludlu, Mc Coy Marrubata, Sheer Sound All Stars, Musa Manzini, Wanda Baloyi, Jonas Segwangwa and Gito Baloi, to name a few.

Frank has also participated on major festivals such as the North Sea Jazz Festival at the Hague for four consecutive years, and the New Orleans Jazz Fest, amongst others international festivals.  He has also taken part in the 46664 Mandela AIDS Concert playing alongside the band Queen and backing artists such as Jimmy Cliff, Anastacia, Angelique Kidjo, Youssou N' Dour, Dave Stewart, Andrews Bonsu, Johnny Clegg, Roger Taylor, Brian May, Peter Gabriel and Bono, amongst other international artists.

Besides his drumming, Frank's charismatic voice can be heard on the Coca-Cola Add "I am going home" on a worldwide broadcast.

Muriel Marco

Innovative pianist, composer, arranger and singer Muriel Marco, embarked as young woman on a journey from Argentina to South Africa with the desire to explore and discover the roots of rhythm.  She studied at the University of Cape Town, completing her degree in composition and arrangement with distinction in Ethnomusicology.

Muriel is a founding member of world music afro-tropical band Tucan Tucan, and has written and arranged most of the original music. With Tucan Tucan, she has performed at numerous festivals such as the North Sea Jazz Festival, The Jazzathon, The Villa Celimontana Jazz Festival, the Cape Town International Jazz Festival and the Joy of Jazz International Festival to mention a few.

Muriel also creates jingles for radio stations and has experience in movie scoring having scored, together with Ghalik Jacobs, the music for "Confessions of a gambler" movie which premiered in Dubai, North America and South Africa in 2008.  They went on to win the Golden Horn for the "best music composition award" from the South African Film and Television Awards.

Muriel's silky voice can be heard on Tucan Tucan's latest release "Make a difference" as well as in the "Hope for Aids" album. ‘Esa Morena’, composed by her and Frank Paco and sung in Spanish by Muriel, was chosen finalist in the International songwriting competition 2008.

Sammy Webber

Versatile bassist, singer and composer Sammy Webber started playing bass guitar at the age of 19 years.

Since 1982 Sammy has been performing with numerous bands including "Funtime", which backed popular South African artists touring throughout South Africa and neighbouring states,"U-Turn","Inside Out" and "Virtual Jazz Reality"(VJR) to mention a few.  With VJR he performed at the North Sea Jazz Festival in Cape Town, the Joy of Jazz, the Heritage Jazz Fest in New Orleans and the Dubai Jazz Festival. He also toured Turkey and Tunisa with British Sax Player "Andrew Young".

Sammy has released his solo album “Happy to be..” and is currently recording his second album to be released at the end of the year. The track "Dreams Fulphilled" from his debut album reached number one on Heart 104.9 fm Top 40 charts.

Bev Scott-Brown

Born in Johannesburg, vocalist Bev Scott-Brown’s interest in music was apparent at an early age, and she went on to the University of Witwatersrand where she completed a bachelor’s degree in music with flying colours.  After a few appearances in musicals, theatre and opera performances, it was clear to Bev that her future lies in live singing with bands. Over the years she has gained vast experience performing with Rock, Pop and Jazz bands, including the Johnny Cooper Orchestra.

In July 2006, she released her dabut album It’s the little things. 

Jeremy Olivier

Guitarist and singer Jeremy Olivier, a native of Zimbabwe, has a degree in Jazz Performance from the University of Cape Town.  His background is mostly jazz, rock and folk. He has appeared at major festivals around the country (including Joy of Jazz, the Cape Town International Jazz Festival and the Standard band Jazz Festival) with artist such as Michael Blake, Basil Moses, Len Richie and Shannon Mowday.