Samuel Sharp – in session for John Kennedy – Radio X – June 23, 2023 – Radio X, London –
While most of the know world was focusing on the goings-on at Glastonbury, there were a few pockets of other interesting music taking place. Case in point; this session, done live for John Kennedy’s X-Posure program on Radio X, on Friday June 23rd.
To fill you in, here’s an excerpt from his website bio:
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. Coverage has included airplay from BBC Radio 3’s Unclassified and Night Tracks shows via Elizabeth Alker, Hannah Peel and Sara Mohr-Pietsch, plus exclusive sessions and interviews with John Kennedy on XFM and Anna Phoebe on Soho Radio. BBC 6 music support has come from Tom Ravenscroft and Stuart Maconie, culminating in Samuel being invited to present his own hour-long show as part of Stuart Maconie’s Freakzone Playlist, a true career highlight. 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 thanks to “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.
While we sift through all the Glastonbury performances, getting ready for our Summer Festival series later on this week, take a break and dive into this session in the meantime. It also takes the blood pressure down a few notches.
