Woodwind specialist based in London, focusing on various world and folk musics. Specifically interested in exploring traditions from the Pale of Settlement (klezmer and co-territorial), and the Balkans..
GIGS
15th March, 2024
17th March, 2024
Oysland Trio @Green Note, Camden
29th March, 2024
Klezmer Playday workshop at Jamboree
1st April, 2024
National Klezmer Youth Orchestra Playday at Jamboree
5th-7th April, 2024
12th April, 2024
Loshn @The Hill Village Hall Cumbria
13th April, 2024
Loshn @Maryport Settlement, Cumbria
2nd May, 2024
BIO
Saxophonist and Clarinettist specializing in the folk/world music scene in London.
John studied on the prestigious BA Jazz course at Leeds College of Music (2010), and graduated from the MA Music Performance course at SOAS (2017) with distinction.
Having played with many leading ensembles and musicians John has also worked in theatre (the London Bubble, Nick Cassenbaum, Viva Productions), and done sessions for TV and film (Bleach Productions, BMG).
Current projects include Loshn Klezmer Band; featuring Anna Lowenstein (Fidl), Susi Evans (Accordion), and Janos Kallai (Cimbalom),
and helping Ilana Cravitz run the National Klezmer Youth Orkester (NKYO).
He also co-founded award-winning klezmer ensemble 'Oysland' (World Music Network, Battle of the Bands, 2017), plays traditional Bulgarian/Macedonian music with 'Raka', and directed the SOAS klezmer band from 2015-2019.
'Barnstorming alto sax'
Ian Mann, thejazzmann.com, London Jazz Festival, 2015
'Top-notch, next-generation Klezmer'
DJ Ritu, A World in London, Resonance FM
‘Top musicianship, true to the Klezmer tradition and great fun too!’
Broadstairs Folk Festival
PROJECTS
Award-winning group Oysland celebrate the multiculturalism of modern-day London by honouring the influence other cultures have had on the secular Ashkenazi musical tradition. With “compelling depth and authenticity” (DJ Ritu, Resonance FM) they re-imagine music from times past, exploring the connections between Klezmer and other co-territorial traditions.
Oysland explore the role this union has played in shaping Yiddish musical identity. Drawing on the Polish and Slovakian roots of its band members they delve into century-old lullabies, exuberant wedding dances and peculiar hay-making stories.
As equally adept at sharing soulful and intimate songs with an audience as they are at providing the music for a lively dance party, Oysland never fail to take audiences on a journey.
*Oysland are winners of the World Music Network Battle of the Bands Winner 2017*
Raka play traditional music from the Balkans. We take our name after a traditional Bulgarian dance the ‘Raka,’ full of leg kicks, clicking heels and hands held high, the unmistakable groove of a ‘Raka‘ brings everyone to their feet. Our music has a strong focus in the folk traditions of Bulgaria and Macedonia, as well as the Romani music that span far and wide across the Balkans. Our meandering musical tributaries have all led us to one communal river: the love and commitment to understanding and interacting with the music of the Balkans. We do not play ‘fusion music’, and neither do we imitate. We bring to life a genuinely authentic repertoire wherever we are, from sweaty back rooms of North London clubs to concert halls on the banks of the Thames. We took the dance for our name as that’s what we love to do. A heart rending lament can move the body as much as a pounding Bulgarian Pravo, and in Raka we have made space for both, and everything in between.
"Absolutely magnificent, no one can sit still listening to Raka!"
DJ Ritu, A World in London - Resonance FM
Mimika is an alternative jazz, world & art music orchestra from London, formed of 20 of London’s most sought after musicians, performing original music by Croation composer Mak Murtic.
Dubbed as one of London’s most creative, trans-idiomatic orchestras, taking audiences on an adventurous journey's where jazz collides with other musical genres and art forms, telling anthropological, cultural and mythological stories of the future and the past.
'What Mimika are doing is really unique, it’s music that stands out'
-Musicdeli, 2016 (arts blog)
RESOURCES
