Things That Grow is a fluid musical project exploring the sonic possibilities of southern African musical bows within improvisatory contexts. On this album, Cara Stacey performs contemporary compositions and improvisations on the umrhubhe and uhadi bows with Shabaka Hutchings (clarinet, tenor saxophone), Seb Rochford (drums), Ruth Goller (bass), Crewdson (concertronica), and Dan Leavers (synths/production). Combining original compositions by Cara and Shabaka, as well as freely conceived improvisations, this recording aims to stretch the boundaries of bow music in an ensemble and create something entirely new.
Cara is a South African multi-instrumentalist, composer and researcher. She is a pianist and plays different southern African musical bows (umrhubhe, uhadi, makhoyane). Cara holds a BMus in musicology from the University of Cape Town, an MMus in musicology from Edinburgh University, and an MMus in musical performance from SOAS (London). Cara is currently completing her doctoral research through the South African College of Music (UCT) and SOAS, specialising in the makhoyane braced-bow of Swaziland. A founding member of Inclement Quartet and Pergola, she has performed in numerous ensembles in South Africa, England, and Scotland. She is based between London, Cape Town, and Mbabane.