“Beautiful use of the saxophone”
Jamie Cullum, BBC Radio 2
“The new album is terrific”
Stuart Maconie, BBC 6 Music
“I love the way he plays the saxophone”
Elizabeth Alker, BBC Radio 3
“One of the great sax innovators of our time”
Louder Than War
“I’ve absolutely fallen in love with this music”
John Kennedy, Radio X
“Wonderful music”
Hannah Peel, BBC Radio 3
Samuel Sharp is a composer, saxophonist and producer based in London.
Samuel’s recent work involves contemporary story-telling through innovatively crafted soundscapes that blur the lines between classical, jazz, and electronic music. His shows are truly unique, as he attempts to capture fragments of memories and emotions, repainting these scenes live on stage with his saxophone and an assortment of harmoniser and delay pedals. Crowds react well to the intimacy and immediacy of the music – there are no big layers of pre-recorded track or loops here – if he stops playing it all grinds to a halt. Make no mistake though, the sonics can build up to epic proportions, with one recent punter commenting that she was “mesmerised into oblivion”.
His albums “Patterns Various” and “Consequential” have been well received to date. Recent radio coverage has included airplay on BBC Radio 2 (Jamie Cullum), BBC Radio 3 (Unclassified and Night Tracks via Elizabeth Alker, Hannah Peel and Sara Mohr-Pietsch), BBC 6 Music (Tom Ravenscroft and Stuart Maconie), XFM (John Kennedy), Jazz FM (Jez Nelson) and Soho Radio (Anna Phoebe) amongst a whole host of other stations around the world. Particular highlights include live sessions and interviews with John Kennedy, plus Samuel being invited to present his own hour-long show as part of Stuart Maconie’s Freakzone Playlist. Louder Than War magazine declared him “one of the great sax innovators of our time”, Backseat Mafia described “Patterns Various” as “an album which will be looked back on as a chronicle of our times”, and the compositions have taken centre stage on the front page of bandcamp several times now thanks to the “New and Notable” selection from their editorial team.
Samuel recently co-founded Counter Chamber, a new classical / electronic night featuring a wide range of contemporary performers, teaming up with composer and multi-instrumentalist Jay Chakravorty as co-curator. Their goal is to take post-classical music into a fresh club setting, reframing what chamber music means for current times with a broadly diverse curation of artists across genre boundaries. And so far so good – the venue has been packed out each time, with hugely positive feedback from punters and performers alike, cementing this concert series as a new mainstay of the scene.
Outside of his own releases, Samuel’s CV reflects an eclectic mix of work: as a touring musician he has performed with the likes of Hackney Colliery Band, Augustines, Hollie McNish, Introducing Live (DJ Shadow Project) and Stephen Crowe. As a session musician and producer his collaboration and remix portfolio includes artists as diverse as Philip Selway (Radiohead), Uno Helmersson (The Bridge), Angus MacRae, Soothsayers, Quest Ensemble, Roska, Laura Mvula, Bawrut, Nick Luscombe’s Musicity, Beverley Knight and Ben Taylor.