ROYAL FESTIVAL HALL
22 MARCH 2010
BOOK TICKETS HERE

PATRICK CLAHAR is one of the leading Saxophonists of his generation and the cream of British Jazz. His sound on the tenor sax is without equal. It has a modern clearness, but is rooted in the soulful, raw sound of Coltrane.

“it all began one day at high school …I remember walking past a practice room and hearing a sixth former saxophonist playing and just getting a strange feeling that I must learn this instrument and that somehow it would become part of my life” Luckily there was one remaining saxophone which Patrick quickly claimed.

Patrick has worked with the Jazz Warriors, Jazz Jamaica, Julian Joseph Big Band, Julian Joseph and Jason Rebello quartets, Incognito, London Metropolitan Orchestra, Lou Reed, Bill Bruford’s Earthworks, Stevie Wonder, Basia, Jocelyn Brown, James Brown, Dina Carroll, Desiré, Mica Paris, Lulu, Sister Sledge, Omar, Pete Townsend, Dave Stewart, Carleen Anderson, Beverly Knight, Diana Ross and Bobby Womack.

Graduated in cello at the Chopin Academy of Music in Warsaw. As a student
at the Academy, she was granted scholarship to learn SARANGI under the
guidance of maestro Pandit Ram Narayan in India. Her artistic interests
are marked by different musical systems and forms. Since 1981 she has been
studying unique techniques of playing Asian instruments, travelling to
India, China, Korea, Mongolia, Japan and Middle East.  Maria has created
The Non-European Music Section at F. Chopin Music Academy, as well as
giving courses at Musicology Institute at the Warsaw University which
portrays the connections and differences between various musical systems.
Comparative studies and multicultural experiences allowed her to undertake
the highly difficult task of reconstructing and taking into consideration
artistic as well as scientific values of two missing traditional Polish
instruments, the Suka, and fiddle from Plock.

For years she has been giving lectures, organizing music workshops and
promoting young musicians. In her musical journey she crosses many
barriers and breaks common stereotypes. Yet she makes it with particular
respect for the autonomy of each tradition from which she draws her
inspiration.

Maria Pomianowska as well plays solo or accompanies different music groups
folk, jazz, pop, and classical. She performs on the following instruments:
-Suka (Poland)
-Fiddle from Plock (Poland)
-Rota (Poland)
-Folk Bass (poland)
-Gadulka( Bulgaria)
-Kemanche- (Iran)
-Rebab (Turkey)
-Sarangi- (India)
-Er-hu (China)
-Morin-hur (Mongolia)
-Hurdy-gurdy

Visit Maria Pomianowska’s official website here

Shurer Dhara Music School in Dhaka, Bangladesh, was founded by Rezwana Choudhury Bannya. There students not only learn songs by Tagore, but also develop an ear for music and aesthetics.

Read more about Rezwana Choudhury Bannya

Jazz Alive is creating an exciting opportunity enabling young musicians and vocalists to explore the history of jazz music in the UK and take part in creative music making led by award winning British Jazz musicians and composers Soweto Kinch and Orphy Robinson.

Sessions take place in a professional music studio with Orphy Robinson and Soweto Kinch, allowing participants to produce pieces of music inspired by their learning on the origins of jazz. The sessions include masterclasses from young musicians who have experience fusing jazz with other genres and visits from guest speakers as well as visits to the London Jazz Festival and the BBC live recording venue at Maida Vale.

The Jazz Alive course also includes the history of the development of British jazz through the pioneering work of musicians from a Black British background, who have influenced the music globally, giving this project a unique foundation.

Find out more at JazzAlive.co.uk

The 51st State Band performed with Julian Joseph at the Royal Festival Hall on 23rd of June 2009. Read Julian Joseph’s response to the evening here:

“A huge congratulations to you all for a wonderful, well presented and musical performance at the Royal Festival Hall. James, Mark Mondesir, Mark Hodgson and I were all impressed and very proud of the way you all conducted yourselves. Most of all you made the music sing! Congratulations to you all on a job well done and I look forward to working with you all again very soon.”
— Julian Joseph

“Congratulations! Last night’s concert was a triumph! Thank you for all that you did to ensure that the children performed so well and enjoyed their music so much! It was wonderful to see, and hear, such a large and appreciative audience and the sense of achievement that the children will have from performing so well and receiving so much applause will stay with them for a long time!  It really was an excellent evening.”
— Tim Willets, Head of Curriculum, Professional, Governor and Leadership Development for London Borough of Wandsworth

Visit Julian Joseph’s Official Website
Visit the 51st State Band Official Website

Virtuoso pianist, bandleader, composer, arranger and broadcaster, Julian Joseph is the undisputed heir to the global house of jazz. Acclaimed by critics and audiences the world over, Julian never fails to inspire with his mastery of the keyboard, and the seemingly limitless scope of his creative imagination. His passion for music is palpable and his desire to communicate that passion compelling. Julian is in constant demand also as a broadcaster and presenter. In 2007 Julian joined BBC Radio 3’s ‘Jazz Line- up’.

Visit Julian Joseph’s Official Website

Grebenshikov hails from St Petersburg, Russia. With the tenderness and insight of a poet he has captured the hearts of his fellow countrymen and is as highly acclaimed and respected in Russia as The Beatles are in the West. Boris Grebenshikov is considered the ‘founding father’ of Russian Rock music. His landmark Russian Album is considered by many to have changed the definition of Russian rock’n’roll music forever. He has produced more than 50 original albums since the formation of his legendary band Aquarium in 1972 and his music includes a whole ream of various ethnic and folklore influences.

Bannya has established herself as a celebrated artist of the ‘Rabindrasangeet’ genre. Her popularity has reached new heights both in Bangladesh as well as in India. Her appeal to the listening audience rests on her laurels as an exponent of Tagore’s music.

Bannya is pioneering projects in Dhaka, Bangladesh, to bring deprived children a musical experience. She has founded and is director of her own music school called Surer Dhara in Dhaka, Bangladesh. There students not only learn songs by Tagore, but also develop an ear for music and aesthetics.

Read more about Shurer Dhara Music School
Visit Rezwana Choudhury Bannya’s Official Website

Wandsworth music service again no web site address – main provider of music to 56 schools across the London Borough of Wandsworth currently delivering ‘Wider Opportunities”‘ the name of the project taking place in schools across England, including 25 Wandsworth primary schools, which is based upon teaching music to a whole class through the teaching of an instrument. Among many other music projects the music service also supports the teaching of the music curicullum in the boroughs school and arranges large concerts bringing several schools to perform together for each concert.

Christina Barrineau

Christina Barrineau is an international advisor on development, specializing in the African and Asian regions. She is currently the Campaign Manager for United Against Malaria, a campaign that will use the popularity of football to catalyze the achievement of the 2010 malaria goals in a Africa. Prior to this she led a number of initiatives for Malaria No More and led the 2008 United Nations MDG Malaria Summit. She was the Managing Director of the Financial Access Initiative, a research consortium comprising Harvard, Yale and New York University from 2006 to 2008; and the Director of the United Nations International Year of Microcredit from 2003 to 2006. Before this she established and managed the Global Network for Banking Innovation in Microfinance for Women’s World Banking (WWB) for five years. Christina started her career as an international advisor and work with the national governments of Canada, Bulgaria, China, Thailand, Russia, the United Kingdom, the United States, the Netherlands, Kenya, Benin, India, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Morocco, Jordan and Angola for eleven years. She has worked with Dr. Jeffery Sachs, Sir Mark Malloch Brown, and Dr. Stanley Fischer on issues specific to eradicating poverty. She has pioneered new thinking on pension plans for the poor and asset building models for informal sector workers. Christina is a well known public speaker, holds an MBA from the University of British Columbia and is a Canadian national.

Veronica Bradbury M.B.E.

Head of Allfarthing Primary School in Wandsworth
Ofted report 2008 “Outstanding School”

Charlie Gillett

Charlie Gillett is a British radio presenter and writer, and in recent years has become one of the country’s most influential proponents of ‘World Music’. Charlie Gillet has been presented with both the Sony Gold Lifetime Achievement Award 1991, and the John Peel Award for Outstanding Contribution to Music Radio by the Radio Academy. 2006.

Gillett began in journalism in 1968 with a weekly column in the Record Mirror. He is author of ‘The Sound of the City,’ a history of popular music and ‘Making Tracks’. He has written for a variety of music magazines including Rolling Stone and New Musical Express and currently contributes to The Observer. He began a weekly radio programme, Honky Tonk on Radio London from 1972, bringing Ian Dury to public attention, and was the first DJ to play demos by Graham Parker, Elvis Costello and Dire Straits (”Sultans of Swing”).

In 1980 Charlie joined London’s leading commercial station, Capital Radio, and began to play more independent music. Fired in 1983, but after listener complaints was re-hired with orders for a new format. He chose to follow his new interest in music from the rest of the world and his show, A Foreign Affair, is credited with helping to launch ‘world music’. Having been the first British DJ to play Youssou N dour, Salif Keita, and many more.

Returning to the BBC, Charlie has presented a weekly two- hour show on BBC London from 1995 to 2006 and a weekly world music programme on the BBC World Service since 1999, ‘Charlie Gillet’s World of Music’, which is broadcast and uploaded to the BBC World website at 11.30pm on Fridays.
Since mid-2007, he has also been on BBC Radio 3 in a rota of three DJs (with Mary Anne Kenedy and Lopa Kothari) presenting World on 3, regularly featuring session guests.

Each year each year since 2000, he has compiled a double-CD world music album, World 2000, 2001, etc, the first four for EMI, the next two for Wrasse. World 2006, Sound of the World (2007) and the latest, Beyond the Horizon (2008), are on Warner Classics & Jazz/Rhino.

Visit Charlie Gillett’s Official Website

James Joseph

James Joseph an artist manager and has been hugely influential in the creation of major label jazz artists from the UK (Jason Rebello, Cleveland Watkiss and his brother, Julian), something that until the 1980’s, with only a few exceptions, was unprecedented. He has also played a key role in guiding the careers of British saxophonists Steve Williamson and Courtney Pine, as well as global artists including Nina Simone and Cassandra Wilson.

James’s work in the music business extends into more broad-based projects. He is a consultant for BBC Worldwide and has co-produced many television and radio series and shows for the BBC and ITV. He sits on various boards including the PRS Foundation and The Lottery. He has also executive-produced many productions for film and latterly for the stage.

Recently James has been working with choreographer Sheron Wray whose company, JazzXchange are now resident at the Royal Opera House commissioning the greatest composers for collaboration including Julian Joseph and Wynton Marsalis. Vocal sensation Mica Paris has joined the James Joseph fold.

Adarsha Kelly

Adrian Lajtha

Adrian Lajtha is Accenture’s chief leadership officer. In this role he has primary responsibility for Accenture’s leadership development program, which focuses on building the leadership capabilities of Accenture’s more than 11,000 senior executives and senior managers globally, and is responsible for the development of and succession planning for the company’s top 200 executives. Considered to be Accenture’s next generation of leaders, Mr. Lajtha also oversees Accenture’s corporate citizenship initiatives globally and is a member of Accenture’s Executive Leadership Team.

Shahid M Malik

Shahid M. Malik was born in October 1954 in Lahore, Pakistan. One of eight siblings, Shahid grew up in the face of working class life. The harsh reality of life in Pakistan in his early years gave him the motivation to achieve great things. He began to write articles for a national newspaper by the age of 15. The following year was to change his life. He wrote a strong article promoting the freedoms and liberty of society, which shook the social framework of rigid Pakistani society. The article started a national debate on freedom and liberty with his article being the focal point of debate in the national assembly of 1970. Despite a successful career ahead of him as a journalist, he left Pakistan for the United Kingdom the very same year, with his dream to travel the world. He continued to write freelance articles for various local and regional papers and soon took up a job at British Airways, Heathrow. Rising within the ranks of British Airways he quickly became a networker. Once described by MD of Prime TV as “the greatest networker in the West”. His interest and relationship within international politics naturally developed over the years and he has established himself as a recognised personality and a great supporter of Human rights. He was the first to establish open dialogue between House of Lords and President Musharraf of Pakistan urging him to allow for civil rights of the people.

Shahid has a lengthy relationship with the Indian Cinema Industry and himself founded and established Asianoutlook.com, which explores content from within and outside of the Asian community in order to provide a bridge for intergration. Shahid is also managining director of Peninsula Pictures Ltd.

Corinne Oulton

Designer — Baskerville design company

James Ware

Educated at St Johns College, Oxford — BA (Jurisprudence) — he qualified as a Solicitor, with Honours. After initial legal experience in banking and international tax planning, he left the City to specialize in copyright law and the entertainment industry, entering into private practice initially on his own and then in partnership with James Saunders. Clients included Virgin Records, Rough Trade Records, Marc Bolan, Joe Strummer and the 1O1ers (The Clash), Aswad and a variety of other players in the music industry at the time. 2005 saw him set up his own new firm in the form of a limited liability partnership, James Ware LLP. The firm’s principal speciality is copyright and the protection and exploitation of intellectual property rights and ideas.

The practice includes music and literary publishing, musicals and other theatrical promotions, independent record companies and producers, specialist rights in the security industries, photographic images, a wide range of performing artists, authors, composers, agents and managers, broadcasters and television production companies, software companies, theatrical entrepreneurs and producers.

Musical clients include bands and performers across a wide range of genres from Deep Purple and Madness to classical composers and performers.