Syd Kitchen

Syd Kitchen
Syd Kitchen in Durban, South Africa
Background information
Birth name	Sydney Stanley Kitchen
Born	(1951-02-14)14 February 1951 Durban, South Africa
Died	22 March 2011(2011-03-22) (aged 60) Durban, South Africa
Genres	Folk Music, Jazz, African, World music, Celtic, Rock Music
Occupation(s)	Musician, singer-songwriter, poet
Instrument(s)	Guitar, vocals, mandolin, sitar, hosepipe flute
Years active	1968–2011
Labels	No Budget Records, Kitchen Kulture
Formerly of	Steve Newman, Tony Cox, Madala Kunene, John Martyn
Website	[1]

Sydney Stanley Kitchen (14 February 1951 – 22 March 2011),^[1] was a South African guitarist, singer-songwriter and poet.^[2] Because of his uncompromising attitude towards the music industry he became an iconic figure in his native South Africa, and also around the world, albeit in relatively small circles.^[3] Up until his death he was the only artist to perform at every single Splashy Fen festival.^[4] He was known for the socio-political messages of his lyrics,^[5] while the title of his 2001 album, Africa's Not for Sissies, became one of the most popular one-liners in South Africa. A documentary film was recently released on his life entitled "Fool in a Bubble".^[6] Kitchen's career of over 45 years as a performing musician gave him a richly varied musical background. He was involved in a host of musical ventures that included Harry was a Snake, an experimental acoustic outfit, Curry and Rice with guitarist Steve Newman, the seven-piece jazz outfit Equinoxe, Bafo Bafo with Zulu guitarist Madala Kunene,^[7] The Aquarian Quartet with fellow aquarians Tony Cox, Steve Newman and Greg Georgiades^[1] and of course his own solo career.