211222 | Caroline
Brown, Cape Town | I think this is communication before there was language.
And it is connecting between those who are present and those ancestors who
have gone before. And with the soul of the earth.
210513 | Peter van Straaten, Cape Town | Wowzers. Francois is more than a
great musician. Reality bender. Wizard. Bloody brilliant!
190316 | Carol Salter, Dover, UK | a virtuoso at its very best
190305 | Jacques Smeets, Netherlands | Ongelooflijk wat hij allemaal in één
performance propt. Naast de muziekinstrumenten, gebruikt hij vooral zijn stem,
mond, tong en lippen om zichzelf te begeleiden. Hij fluit, zingt, klakt, kreunt,
smakt, zucht, praat en schreeuwt. Tijdens het dansen met sjaals zet hij elke
spier en elk gewricht van zijn lichaam in.
180130 | Joel Karabo Elliot, Nashville | Ha!Man Francois le Roux is truly
one of the finest jewels of South African music. Classical music meets free
improvisation meets storytelling meets INFINITY in his inspired performances.
Rarely do we encounter such embodiment of spirit and skill, soul and technique,
talent and humility in a single body-soul!
140702 | Biren Shah, India | Your work, I feel, is much more than the making
of music. It is muse-ic. You are using music as a tool, and it is clearing
and creating the old and new, respectively.
110916 | guitarist Derek Gripper, Cape Town | Its not often one sees someone
using human resources to have fun. (The HA!) is truly revolutionary. The most
subversive art out there. Like a religious ceremony without the religion.
110720 | from a recommendation by the late Peter Krummeck (playwright) | Where
most entertainers 'touch' Francois 'changes'. His shift of emphasis from 'me'
to 'we' has robust potential for lasting good in a self-seeking world gripped
by moral bankruptcy.
080215 | David
Perry-Davies, Cape Town | You are truly inspirational. Thank you! I also believe
that the only way to get us out of the environmental mess that we are in -
is to activate people through their hearts - which again is why I think your
work is so important and valuable
071001 | (wyle)
Mixael de Kock, impressario, Johannesburg | Francois le Roux is 'n uitvoerproduk
wat wereldklas is.. sonder twyfel een van Suid-Afrika se grootstes..
051011 | Nancy
Nicolay, Kansas City HA!event | let me say you are the most remarkable and
electrifying musician I have ever seen and I've loved music all of my life.
I've seen Jimmie Hendrix, the Beatles and others going back that far. There
really aren't enough adjectives to describe your performances.
050807 | from
performance review by Colin Lang, Knysna (1) | Every textural sound that a
cello can create was evinced by the artist in cantilena and spiccato passages
and precisely controlled glissando. Unlike the famous cellist Pablo Casals
who grunted in his advanced years, Francois deploys the most telling vocalization
from lips, tongue and glottis, as well as his lips to whistle to delineate
rhythms and give peculiar colour. At other moments he sings in a perfectly
pitched baritone. As to the music itself, it would be fair, if inadequate,
to state that he brings a most imaginative fusion of classical and contemporary
melody and harmony to his highly varied conceptions, which is not at all derivative.
(Colin Lang, Knysna Reporter, South Africa)
050807 | from
performance review by Colin Lang, Knysna (2) | Rare indeed is the sight and
sound these days of a 'macho'/sensitive instrumentalist, in this instance,
primarily on the 'Cello, which he handles with both freedom and intensity.
050219 | Greg
Pastoll, Cape Town | This is talent of the highest order.. Francois stretches
my imagination f or what music is about. He whips it up and slings it around
with the ease and nonchalance of a circus juggler. If you go to your grave
without seeing this show, you will have let history pass you by.
020914 | from review by Die Burger, South African daily | (The HA!Man is) one of South Africa's most talented performers.. His performance on piano, keyboard and cello is truly a fresh experience and one can only observe in amazement his countless improvisations and finely attuned interpretations - as with his rendition of Brahms' Lullaby, where he used flute, cello and piano to captivate his audience into a near trance.