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.
‘All music is, in some sense, a journey, but some musicians travel further than others. Percussionist Ramesh Shotham is one such. Originally a rock drummer with one of India¹s most successful bands Human Bondage, he underwent something of a conversion in the mid 1970s and was drawn back towards the music of his homeland. He has been steadily clocking up yet more miles in this musical journey, collaborating in the 1990s with jazz visionaries like saxophonists Steve Coleman and Charlie Mariano, composer Carla Bley and oud player Rabih Abou Khalil. Then came his own group, Madras Special, which may be a summation of all that he has learnt and discovered along the way.’ (Cormac Larkin in the Irish Sunday Tribune, 23.07.06)
Based in Germany, since the early 1980s, Shotham chose to live permanently in the city of Cologne around 1990, and became a German citizen in the year 2000. Nowadays, Shotham’s arsenal includes a bewildering array of percussion Instruments, ranging from diverse Indian traditional drums to selected pieces of the modern drum kit. He has been, over the years, working closely with companies such as Meinl Percussion, Wahan Drums and Anatolian Cymbals in developing, enhancing and endorsing their products.
Photo Ramesh Shotham by Volker Beushausen
Shotham’s use of traditional Indian drums in Orchestral and Big Band settings is quite unique. His work with the Carla Bley Big Band (Escalator Over The Hill), the WDR Big Band (Sketches of Bangalore/Karnataka College of Percussion, Niedecken’s ‘Deutschlandlieder’), BujazzO (Tour of India during the German Cultural Year 2011) and Phoenix Foundation (Indian Tour 2013), is well documented. He has been closely associated with the Renga project of the LPO (London Philharmonic Orchestra), playing original ‘World Music’ compositions with some of the finest classical musicians from London. His forays into the Western Classical world also saw him playing percussion in Nationaltheater Mannheim’s production of the Baroque Opera ‘Alessandro’, directed by the famous Günter Krämer.
Besides fulfilling his busy touring and studio schedules, Shotham has been active in the field of music education. He has created special concepts for teaching rhythms to musicians (as well as to lay people), based on the unique drum language and mathematics of the music of South India. ‘GlobalTala’ and ‘Talking Rhythm’ Workshops represent these concepts.
Shotham has conducted workshops at music conservatories in Weimar, Cologne, Nürnberg, and Rostock. During the last 3 years, Shotham has been involved in ‘Kultur und Schule’ projects, working with children. He is currently a regular member of the World Percussion Academy’s annual meetings at the Landesmusikakademie in Heek.
Karl Seglem is regarded as one of the most exciting contemporary tenor saxophonists and composers of Norway. This country has produced a whole line of musicians who have made it their mission to combine musical traditions – often from their homeland – with contemporary music, world music and jazz. Amongst them Karl Seglem plays an important role and is, without doubt, one of the great innovators and visionaries of Norwegian music. He stimulates both the traditional Norwegian genre and jazz with his unwavering will to fuse forms of expression, pursue crossover ventures and embrace new instruments, sounds and perspectives. A celebrated Norwegian jazz star, Karl Seglem has created his own identity by fusing the sound of his tenor sax and goat horns with the Norwegian Hardanger violin. The result is powerful and wonderful – melodies, jazz, electronics.
Photo Karl Seglem by Jacek Brun
Berit Opheim is one of Norway’s most popular traditional singers. With an inquisitional approach to music, she is constantly evolving towards new forms of expression in medieval, contemporary and improvised music. Many listeners are drawn to Opheim’s music because of her versatility and willingness to explore different genres. She started her career in the late 1980s and is known for her wonderful stage presence and warm voice.
Photo Berit Opheim by
She studied German literature and history in Freiburg, later on composition in Cologne with Joachim Ullrich and Siegfried Koepf, Maria Schneider and Jim McNeely in New York and George Russell in Boston.
Christina Fuchs received national and international rewards in composition as „Scrivere in Jazz“, Italy and the “WDR Jazzpreis” for composition. Recently she got nominated for the “German Jazz Price” in the category “Best Large Ensemble of the year”.
Photo Christina Fuchs by Volker Beushausen
She works as composer, saxophonist and clarinetist in a variety of ensembles in such divers fields as New Music, Theatre, Improvised Music and Jazz.
During the past 30 years Christina Fuchs has developed an instantly recognizable sound and a unique language as a composer. Her work includes traditional concerts as well as collaborations with other art forms, such as dance, visual arts, literature, spoken word, documentaries and theatre. What is common to all of these settings is Fuchs’ emphasis on blending written and improvised music.
She is in a leading position for her ensembles “No Tango Quartet”, “No Tango & Strings”, „Flux”, “KontraSax”, „FUCHSTHONE ORCHESTRA“ and with the musicians collective SONIQ.
