I co-produced this track with and for Just Jinjer's Ard Matthews at his coffee-shop in Umhlanga. Towards the end of the recording we were honoured to have the great Vusi Mahlasela visit us and add his iconic creativity to the song.

Ard Matthews: vocals, acoustic guitar, programming
Vusi Mahlasela: acoustic guitar, vocals
John Ellis: additional backing vocals, percussion, bass, acoustic, keyboards
The Staff of I Want My Coffee: backing vocals

Words and music: Ard Matthews

Ard Matthews: uMuntu (feat. Vusi Mahlasela)

The Kickstands are a Durban-based acoustic guitar singer-songwriter duo consisting of Gary Nixon and Rudy Greyvenstein. In late 2013 they recorded this song over at Ard Matthew's Umhlanga coffee-shop, and I was asked to co-produce.

Gary Nixon: acoustic guitar, vocal
Rudy Greyvenstein: acoustic guitar
John Ellis: percussion, bass
Ard Matthews: drums, additional guitars

Words and music: The Kickstands

The Kickstands: Medicine

From Out Of Eden's 2005 Grammy-nominated "Hymns" album, this hymn featured Tree63 providing the entire backing track. I played guitar and sang a duet with Lisa Kimmey.

Out of Eden feat. Tree63: Praise To The Lord, The Almighty

Rick Altizer's Soullift project came out on Gotee Records in 2001 and featured an interesting mix of artists, including the late great Johnny Cash, Vestal Goodman and Russ Taff. New kids on the block were invited to contribute thanks to Rick's love of Tree63's 2000 "63" album, but it was just me as vocalist that was really invited to the party. I sang Rick's haunting "Cry".

John Ellis: Cry

Matt Redman's song, repurposed for what was then termed "Modern Worship", by Dwayne Larring (Kelly Clarkson etc) under the ill-fated SonicFlood banner. Dwayne produced this version and asked me to sing it late in 2000, and then it sat on the shelf for a few years until InPop Records dug it out and used it on the Festival Con Dios CD as a "new" Tree63 song, which of course it wasn't. 
Invariably, not many people have heard this!


Words and music: Matt Redman

John Ellis (Tree63): Send Revival

Peter Furler asked me to play guitar on this track from the Newsboys' award-winning "Devotion" album from 2004.

Words and music: Peter Furler
InPop Records 2004

Newsboys: The Orphan

I was asked to play guitar on two tracks on Taylor Sorenson's 2004 debut for Michael W. Smith's Rocketown Records. Produced by the inimitable Dave Perkins (Over The Rhine etc) in his Airstream trailer out in the garden.

Words and music: Taylor Sorenson
Rocketown Records 2004

Taylor Sorenson: Sanctuary

My dear friend Nibs asked me to contribute guitar ambience to his 2002 album "Flowers In The Rain", out on Sheer Records, and "Waiting On Someone" is the result.

Nibs van der Spuy: Waiting For Someone

I played guitar on a number of songs for young British worship leader Lex Buckley's Survivor debut "Through The Valley" in 2006.

Words and music: Lex Buckley
Survivor
2006

Lex Buckley: Gaze Upon Your Beauty

A very rare, hard-to-find song of Matt Redman's that he asked me to sing for a 1999 Kingsway compilation "Songs For The New Millennium". Featuring the masterful Terl Bryant on drums, Matt Weeks on bass and Neil Costello on guitar.

Words and music: Matt Redman
Kingsway
1999

John Ellis:  Millennium

Early on in Tree63's life, I was asked to play guitar on South African dance sensation MIC's new album, "Superhuman". 

I played on the title track, as well as "Time" and this song, "Pretend".

Words and music: "Dr Cybermack"
Sarepta Music 1999


MIC: Pretend

A collection of music I've either produced, played guitar on, co-written with other artists or even produced for and by myself as a solo artist. 



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