The fantastic Radhika de Saram Quartet perform an original number "My Type", live at the SMJC (Southampton Modern Jazz Club), 23 June 2024
Featuring:
Zhenya Strigalev: saxophone ‪@ZhenyaStrigalev‬
Charles Kieny: accordion and effects ‪@charleskny‬
Radhika de Saram: bass guitar ‪@radhikadesaram3207‬
Billy Pod: drums ‪@BillyPod‬
“Each tune immediately gets your feet tapping” Jazz Views
Radhika de Saram was born in Sri Lanka to a family of classical musicians and moved to London aged five in 1996. Radhika actively freelances as a violinist in London, touring and recording with orchestras such as London Contemporary Orchestra and Chineke! Orchestra, and performs frequently in prestigious venues such as the Barbican, the Royal Albert Hall, the Royal Festival Hall amongst others and tours regularly In Europe. She has recorded violin on the soundtracks for films such as ‘All Quiet on the Western Front’ which won an Oscar for Best Music, ‘The Matrix Resurrections’ , ‘Tar’, and ‘One Life’ and for albums by bands such as The National and The Smile amongst others, as well as performing as part of a string section with icons such as Grace Jones, Alicia Keys, Eric Calpton and Little Simz. Radhika also composes and plays bass guitar, and has performed her own original music with her band in various venues around UK, Europe and Sri Lanka. She has recently released her debut album ‘From The Crow’s Nest’ comprised of all her original compositions. Musical influences include folk music from her native country, Sri Lanka, as well as jazz and other styles she’s encountered while travelling and while working as a freelancer in London.
‘’Her writing is intelligent, multi-faceted and admirably diverse’’ The Jazz Mann
“A musician fluent in a wide variety of musical languages” Jazz Views
Zhenya Strigalev has worked with some of today’s most forward thinking musicians (including Eric Harland, Ambrose Akinmusire, Tim Lefebvre, Chris "Daddy" Dave, Alex Sipiagin, William Parker, Aaron Parks, Joseph "Foley" McCreary from Miles Davis fame, Larry Grenadier) and has appeared at many prestigious jazz festivals and concert venues, performing extensively in Germany, France, Spain, Italy, Sweden, Russia, Czech Republic, Austria, Britain, Switzerland, Chile, Argentina, Peru...He has recorded 4 albums with his groups Smiling Organizm and Never Group and his music is regularly played on BBC radio as well as national radio stations in Austria, Germany, Finland, Switzerland, Australia, France. You can also see his concerts around the world on the French music TV station, Mezzo Live HD.
"A maverick at the heart of modern jazz."
★★★★ The Telegraph
Charles Kieny is a French accordionist and composer based between London and Paris. Electronic sensors allow him to play synthesisers directly on his acoustic instrument. Alumni from the internationally renowned Conservatoire National Supérieur de Paris, he specialises in composition and improvisation in Jazz and amplified music.
Charles is always in a hunt for new experiences and musical cross-breedings: he can be heard playing in orchestra projects, as well as electronic music and jazz groups, or collaborating with live performances productions.
Charles is a 2021 laureate of FoRTE (Regional Fund for Emerging Talents) of the Paris Region for his project CKRAFT, a jazz-metal quintet with melodies from Gregorian chant, which won the Tonnerre de Jazz award and released his first album "Epic Discordant Vision" in 2022.
Invited twice to the AMV (Musical Academy of Villecroze) by Richard Galliano then Vincent Peirani, he returned there in residency to develop his CrozPhonics project, a trio of two cellos and accordion mixing contemporary jazz and folk influences in an approach chamber musician, 2022 winner of the Musician - Jazz and Classical Music grant from the Jean-Luc Lagardère Foundation.
Billy Pod is the artist name of Greek born drummer/musician Vasileios Podaras who is currently based in London, UK. He has been working internationally for more than ten years performing festivals and touring around Europe, USA and Asia. He has recorded more than 20 albums as a sideman and he has a long list of performances with acclaimed artists from award winning saxophonist Tivon Pennicott, New York acclaimed vocalist Jd Walter, to Greek music legend Dionisis Savopoulos. He has been added in the list of 'Top 10 new and upcoming drummers' by French ‘Βatterie’ Μagazine and he has performed at the Tribeca Performing Arts Centre in New York as a finalist of the Made In New York International Jazz Competition. Ηe left Athens to relocate in London in 2020 and since then, he has already worked with a number of leading jazz artists in the London Jazz Scene: Jim Mullen (album recording in London), Rob Luft (BBC NGA recording session at Maida Vale Studios), Dave o’ Higgins, Mornington Lockett, Vasilis Xenopoulos, Gilad Atzmon among others.