JB Arthur

Becoming a professional musician in 1977, he toured for 3 years with “Arthur & Swan”, before returning to Johannesburg to form the group “Morocko” with Mike Faure, Jethro Butow and Cedric Samson. Their debut album was released in 1981 and included the hit "Bowtie Boogaloo", written by JB. In the early ‘80s he became involved in studio recordings, and was much in demand as a session singer and arranger. As a musical arranger/producer or engineer, Joe has worked with many varied artistes, including : Mynie Grove - Friends First - Karl Kikillus – Amanda Strydom - Alec “Om” Khaoli - Bobby Angel - Pat Berning (6 CDs produced in France between 1994 & 2007) - Wambali Mkandawire - Ringo Madlingozi (“Ntumba”/ “Baleka”) - Tony Cox, Johnny Fourie, etc. The contemporary jazz production, “Southern Sunrise” by Mike Faure went to No. 1 on Radio Metro's local chart, and was TOP 5 on Highveld Stereo.

In 1989, JB decided to go out on his own, & established Joe’s Garage Audio Recordings (named for Frank Zappa's album, "Joe's Garage Part I, II & III"). He began engineering all his own projects from this time on, until moving Joe’s Garage to it’s current premises on 5 acres north of Johannesburg, where his studio has been located since 1994. CD projects recorded & produced by JB ARTHUR & his partner, SIBUSISO VICTOR MASONDO at Joe’s Garage that have won SOUTH AFRICAN MUSIC AWARDS include “Zani Muwone” (WAMBALI-2003), “China” (TONY COX-2003), & “Blue Anthem” (TONY COX-2008).

JB also won a SAMA in 2005 for his score for the film “STORY OF AN AFRICAN FARM”. JB has been regularly called upon to write arrangements for various “Pops" concerts, and has worked extensively in the realm of symphonic / orchestral genres as well as conducting the “Highveld Pops” and the “Sun City Millennium Concert”. In 1983, at age 25, JB accompanied Mynie Grove to Chile, where he conducted the National Festival Orchestra of Chile performing his arrangement of a Grove composition which represented South Africa in the INTERNATIONAL SONG FESTIVAL OF VINA DEL MAR. The festival then had a live TV audience exceeding 1,2 BILLION (interesting note: JB did NOT speak SPANISH, & the Orchestra spoke NOT A WORD OF ENGLISH)... JB & Mynie repeated the trip the following year...

He has had the opportunity to work in practically every musical sphere, including Rock / Pop / African / World Music / Orchestral / Big Band / Inspirational / Jazz / Gospel, etc. . In 1999 JB recorded & co-produced “Amazing Grace” with Sibusiso Victor Masondo for “the Millennium Chorus”, a worldwide release. Co-productions include Lionel Petersen and Benjamin Dube (“FEEL LIKE GOING ON” & “FOR EVERY MOUNTAIN”, SAMA 10 NOMINEE), both artistes recorded by JB Arthur for Harmony Records, a division of Epic Records, Based in New York.

2001 saw JB form a new independent label, “INSTINCT AFRICAINE, with partner SIBUSISO MASONDO… their signings & productions include: FRESHLYGROUND… their debut album “Nomvula” is multi-platinum, a SAMA award-winner & in 2007 FG became the 1st SA artistes to win an MTV EUROPE AWARD… freshlyground’s 2007 release, “MA’CHERI” has sold multi-platinum as well, & won 4 SAMA awards in 2008, including “ALBUM OF THE YEAR”… THEMBI MTSHALI… new album to be released 1st quarter 2010... PJ POWERS… album “SONDELA”, released November 2006… TONY COX… 2 very successful tours of Canada… CARLO MOMBELLI… his “PRISONERS OF STRANGE” project has seen two albums produced by JBA… the 1st, SAMA-nominated “WHEN SERIOUS BABIES DANCE”…the 2nd, “I STARED INTO MY HEAD” (also SAMA-nominated in 2008 for “BEST CONTEMPORARY JAZZ”), released early in 2007… TONY COX & STEVE NEWMAN… “About Time”… SAMA-nominated album… JOHNNY FOURIE… “Solo, Duet Trio”, a collaboration with CARLO MOMBELLI & KEVIN GIBSON… WAMBALI… new album”MOTO” released in 2008… “HEARTLINES”… soundtrack to the ground-breaking TV series… a multi-artiste collaboration ft LOYISO, SIBONGILE KHUMALO, GLORIA BOSMAN, JABU HLONGWANE, etc, & produced by JBA, SIBUSISO VICTOR MASONDO & ZWAI BALA… TREVOR SAMPSON: “REDEMPTION”… a gospel collaboration…

As a freelance producer, JB has produced SA Pop/Rock band WATERSHED… their 2005 album “MOSAIC” went platinum shortly after release, & won “BEST POP ALBUM” at the 2007 SAMA AWARDS… JBA worked in 2005 with a new signing to EMI Records, “VERONA”…. JB together with Victor Masondo produced “KOM ‘N BIETJIE BINNE” for SA artiste DOZI… the album, released late 2006, sold platinum…

JB has written & produced many well-known imaging themes for National TV Channels, including TV1 (“This One’s for You”), NNTV, SABC1 (“Simunye, We Are One”), M-Net (“We Call It Magic”), SABC2 (“Feel at Home”, co-produced with Sibusiso Masondo), imaging for SABC 3, and the “Learn” Channel on DSTV… JB also regularly composes & records songs & music for corporate launches, events & conferences, as well as contributing music for TV & Radio advertising campaigns…

JB has also been called upon to MD numerous large-scale TV productions, including 10 MISS SOUTH AFRICA PAGEANTS between 1989 & 2007… he was MD for the 1st two “MISS SA TEEN” pageants (1999 & 2000), & was also musical director for the “MR WORLD” competition held in CHINA in early 2007 & broadcast worldwide… together with partner MASONDO, JB produced the music for MISS WORLD 2007 (held in Sanya, China) & 2008 (held in Johannesburg)…the 2001 SAMA AWARDS ceremony & show…

JB has also been MUSIC DIRECTOR for 5 successful seasons of “STRICTLY COME DANCING” on SABC TV since 2006.

He has also scored many Wildlife documentary films & series, many of which have been produced for Aquavision Films, & many of which have won numerous awards at international wildlife film festivals. Since 2002, JB has worked with wildlife film legends Dereck & Beverly Joubert on SEVEN films, including “Ultimate Enemies” (which when premiered in the USA had the highest viewership ever recorded on the National Geographic Channel) “Hunting Hounds of Arabia”, a film about the famous Arabian desert SALUKIS… “Relentless Enemies: Lions & Buffalo” … “Eye of the Leopard”, which won BEST NATURE FILM at the JULES VERNE FILM FESTIVAL IN PARIS, BEST FILM AT JACKSON HOLE 2007, & AN EMMY AWARD FOR BEST SCIENCE & NATURE PROGRAM IN 2007… 2004 saw JB compose & record the soundtrack for “The Story of an African Farm”, (feature film starring Richard E Grant & Armin Mueller-Stahl) at Joe’s Garage… also contributed to the score for “CRAZY MONKEY: STRAIGHT OUTTA BENONI” in 2005… JB also made a significant contribution to the scores of “MR BONES” (2002… largest grossing SA film to date) & “HANSIE” (2008)… in 2009, JB composed the score for “MONNA WA MMINO: THE MIKE MASOTE STORY”, a feature film & 4-part TV series based on the life story of Mike Masote, creator of the SOWETO STRING QUARTET…

2009 saw JB compose the prescribed song for the ABSA NATIONAL CHOIR FESTIVAL… he was also music director for the festival & conducted the mass choir at their gala event…

JB was also called on to compose & produce all music for the FIFA WORLD CUP 2010 FINAL DRAW, held December 4th 2009 in Cape Town & live on TV to a WORLD-WIDE audience of 2,5 billion.

2010 started with JB revising & producing all music for CARTE BLANCHE on M-Net (3 new shows: “CARTE BLANCHE DOMESTIC”, “CARTE BLANCHE MEDICAL”, & “CARTE BLANCHE CONSUMER”)…

July 2010: together with Victor Masondo, Sibongile Khumalo & Alexis Faku, composed & produced all music for the CLOSING CEREMONY of the FIFA WORLD CUP 2010...

July 2010: embarked on trips around South Africa, working with regional choirs participating in the ABSA NATIONAL CHOIR FEST 2010 (JB is the music director, & composed the prescribed song for the festival)...

September 2010: travels to Los Angeles to mix new album produced for WOUTER KELLERMAN… mixing with S. HUSKY HOSKULDS (Grammy Award-winning engineer, who has worked with Norah Jones, Cheryl Crow, Tom Waits, to name a few)…

May 2011 sees the WOUTER KELLERMAN album, “TWO VOICES”, win BEST INSTRUMENTAL ALBUM at the 17th SOUTH AFRICAN MUSIC AWARDS… “THEORY”, by CARLO MOMBELLI & THE PRISONERS OF STRANGE (produced by JB), is nominated in the category “BEST CONTEMPORARY JAZZ”…

October 2010:  JB co-composes with Hollywood composer ALEX WURMAN (March of the Penguins, The Switch, Temple Grandin), score for “THE LAST LIONS”, a National Geographic feature film, released in cinemas worldwide March 2011… September 2011… score for the film wins “BEST MUSIC” at the WORLD WILDLIFE FILM FESTIVAL @ JACKSON HOLE, Wyoming…

July-August 2011: for the 3rd year running, JB is music director for the ABSA NATIONAL CHOIR FESTIVAL…

September 2011: JB composes music for “THE UNLIKELY LEOPARD”, his 8th collaboration with DERECK & BEVERLY JOUBERT…

JB has four children, & three grandchildren, is a manic fly-fisherman, & lives in Bryanston, Johannesburg…