Sandhya Sanjana was born in Bombay, India where she studied Hindustani vocal music from several gurus. She discovered jazz and blues and her compositions combine these various elements. She sings in several Indian languages. Currently she lives in Amsterdam where she has three bands featuring varied genres of music. Her greatest joy is in combining diverse streams into a cohesive musical language.
Photo Sandhya Sanjana by SONY DSC
Prince Moussa Cissokho is one of the great Kora players and singers from Senegal. Born and raised in an influential Griot family, he was taught early by his father, traveled with him and played at traditional ceremonies in Senegal, Guinea Conakry and Guinea Bissau. Moussa Cissokho belongs to the Mandinka family, the people of medieval Mali, the largest West African empire in history. According to his tradition, he learned to play the Kora and the dances and chants from childhood. Moussa Cissokho was a member of the Ballet National de Senegal for 6 years. Today he lives in Austria and plays with musicians from Europe and Africa.
Aly Keita has earned worldwide recognition for his mastery of the balafon. While rooted in tradition, Keita’s Afro-pop, funk-fueled rhythm section and taste for complex jazz-oriented arrangements set him far apart from most balafon players.
The way he plays is just spectacular. The sticks in his hands seem to dance on the wooden keys of the instrument. He has played alongside artists like Joe Zawinul, Amadou & Mariam, Pharoah Sanders and Rhoda Scott. Aly Keita lives in Berlin today, where he met the Dutch drummer Marcel van Cleef and the Italian Bass player Roberto Badoglio. The Trio combines the West African rhythms with elements of jazz and creates a fantastic soundscape.
Stefan Bauer, vibraphonist, marimba player and composer, is active in a wide-ranging field of music between tradition and avant-garde. Inspirational journeys and memorable collaborations with many fantastic musicians resulted in his nine CD releases to date under his own name. Bauer sees himself as a musical narrator who uses various stylistic means and the “voices” of a large group of individualistic musicians for his compositions. Stefan Bauer has performed at festivals from Abidjan to Zurich over decades and is an established jazz musician in Germany, Canada and in his home town of Brooklyn, NY.
“Bauer is a player of no uncertain gifts, strong in the technique and introspective feeling, whose instincts suggest a Euro-Canadian jazz connection.” Josef Woodard, Jazziz
Photo Stefan Bauer by Volker Beushausen
Drummer Rhani Krija was born in 1971 in Essaouira, Morocco, in the heart of Gnawa culture. As a teenager he began to listen to traditional musical styles from North Africa, the ones that form the basis of his music today. Known for his knowledge and ability to play authentic Andalusian, Arabic, African and Latin American rhythms, Rhani has become a sought-after international drummer. Rhani, who lives in Germany, has recorded some fine percussion samplers for major record labels in recent years and performs all over the world. Rhani has recorded, toured and shared the stage with: Sting, Dominic Miller, Herbie Hancock, Al Di Meola, Placido Domingo, Peter Gabriel, the WDR Bigband, the SWR-Bigband, et. al.
Photo Rhani Krija by Jürgen Bindrim
“Mystic reflection and the modern urge to progress are being reconciled … We are captivated: This is how cultures successfully melt together.”
Neue Zürcher Zeitung
The Indo-German pianist and composer Jarry Singla has always been crossing borders between the most diverse musical worlds. Several years of stays in Mexico City, New York, Mumbai and La Paz opened his heart and mind, intensive musical collaborations in Buenos Aires, Katowice and Kiev promoted his successful search for a way past all dogmas, for a fresh, refined and exciting sound between jazz and ethnic inspiration.
Photo Jarry Singla by Volker Beushausen
In his current ensembles, the influence of Indian music is particularly pronounced: The trio JARRY SINGLA EASTERN FLOWERS with the South Indian percussionist Ramesh Shotham appeared at renowned festivals such as “Jazz Utsav New Delhi”, “Buenos Aires Jazz” or “Festijazz Bolivia” in recent years.
THE MUMBAI PROJECT – created in 2013 during a residency grant of the Arts Foundation of North Rhine-Westphalia – performed in major Indian and German cities, most recently as part of a production with the FRANKFURT RADIO BIGBAND.
Jarry Singla’s individualistic work in the wide-ranging field of European jazz includes compositions for his quartet with the outstanding British saxophonist JULIAN ARGÜELLES and for the German-Polish-French TRIO WEI3.
In 2017, Jarry worked in an internationally cast ensemble of the trumpeter MARKUS STOCKHAUSEN. Since 2016, as a founding member of the music collective SONIQ, he has been initiating visionary projects including renowned artists such as MAJID BEKKAS, RHANI KRIJA ALY KEITA or KARL SEGLEM.
