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Hastings born Sye plays a mean saxophone; he can start with the Gay Gordons and waltzes and he moves through the motions of
today's music to the jazz-rock blues that he loves.
Born to play music, he was only 8 years old when he first played Trumpet on stage. And with a music teacher for a father,
he went onto play clarinet and classical piano but his real love is the sax.
Barry White and George Benson had a lot of influence on Sye's music in his younger days.
He played with the Hastings Junior orchestra and the Napier Boys High orchestras as well as in the Bell Birds (family
brass band), Omega where he played mainly piano, and then he went on to play with Fusion and Bluebeard.
Barry White and George Benson had a lot of influence on Sye's music in his younger days.
He played with the Hastings Junior orchestra and the Napier Boys High orchestras as well as in the Bell Birds (family
brass band), Omega where he played mainly piano, and then he went on to play with Fusion and Bluebeard.
In his 40 years of Saxophone playing he has been privileged to play with:
Bell Birds (Family Band)
Howard Morrison
Tui Teka
Frankie Rowles
Billy T James
Tina Cross
Ray Woolf
Bruno Lawrence
Dalvanius
Yandell Sisters
Maori Volcanics
Shadracks
Tama Renata
Blerta
Born with music in his blood, Sye plays with Soul.
New Zealand Idol Judge Frankie Stevens is a great fan of Sye's.
Frankie says:
When you hear Sye Witoko play it doesn't take you long to realize that here is a musician who knows music, who feels music,
who is an extension of his chosen instrument the saxophone. He is one of that rare breed of musician who draws his audience
into his performance. I rate Sye amongst the very best of New Zealand muso's.
He has the musical instinct and knowledge that enables him to deliver for every occasion.
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