In Play Out... Jesse explores the improvisational nature of Indian and Jazz music through fascinating creative partnerships that cross musical and geographical borders with Zoe Rahman an established star herself on the contemporary jazz scene described as 'one of the finest young pianists in Europe' (The Observer) and performs saxophone / percussion dialogue with the powerfully original drummer, Seb Rochford. Bassist Kenny Higgins brings his dynamic groove style to the collaboration. At its heart lies Bannister's distinctive sound, honed from years of absorbing influences from Indian classical music, jazz and contemporary compositions.

Jesse Bannister: saxophone
Zoe Rahman: piano
Seb Rochford: drums
Kenny Higgins: bass

Play Out explores the improvisational nature of Indian and Jazz music through fascinating creative partnerships that cross musical and geographical borders.

At the heart of Play Out lies Jesse Bannister's distinctive sound, honed from years of absorbing influences from Indian classical music, jazz and contemporary composition.

The outstanding pianist, Zoe Rahman has established herself as a rising star on the contemporary jazz scene and has been described as "one of the finest young pianists in Europe" (The Observer). The group features rarely heard saxophone / percussion dialogue with the powerfully original drummer, Seb Rochford, and Kenny Higgins bringing his dynamic bass to the collaboration.

This concert is presented by our Cultural Partner, sampad, who exist to develop a deep and distinctive structure of South Asian arts in Birmingham and Britain through production, promotion, advocacy, education and outreach.

Elgar Concert Hall

Tickets: 12 pounds, 8 pounds concessions and students

RUDRA reverberates through the universe... a powerful force in the shape of Shiva that destroys evil and restores balance, this performance echoes the cycle of peace, disturbance, love and lament.
Manasamitra resurrects ancient Indian mythology with an exciting fusion of contemporary music and dance. Choreographer Sonia Sabri, working in contemporary kathak brings together four regional dancers with contemporary and Indian dance backgrounds to create RUDRA against an original musical score performed live. RUDRA will offer audiences a new experience of Indian arts.

Creative Team Music composition - Shri Sriram Choreography - Sonia Sabri Vocals on composition - Supriya Nagarajan Assistant choreography - Amayra Fuller Set and costume design - Hannah Sibai Lighting design - Mickie Mannion Dancers Nikki Bakolis, Lucy Haighton, Alys North and Jyoti Uniyal Musicians and Live Music Composition Saxophone - Jesse Bannister Mridangam (South Indian drum) - RR. Prathap Violin - Kartik Raghunathan Flute - Melissa Thompson

Images by Brian Slater and Duncan Lomax

"A connection was beautifully established through wrists and hands with a sense of wonder"

Pulse - Asian Music and Dance Magazine

"Sri Sriram's music is a mix of traditional Indian instruments with contemporary beats building to wonderful crescendos with infectious rhythms."

York Mix

Shivoham is a ceremony in contemplation inspired by the Indian god Shiva that will take the audience on a sensual journey. Playing with live music, lights and smell Shivoham will be an original audio-visual installation rooted in India.

Live Carnatic singing, Indian percussion and contemporary music is underscored by an original soundtrack composed by Shri Sriram (of Badmarsh and Shri fame) and led by singer and Manasamitra artistic director Supriya Nagarajan with Jesse Bannister or James Mainwaring on saxophone and RR. Prathap and Matt Exton on percussion.

Creative Team Music composition - Shri Sriram Director - Supriya Nagarajan Set and costume design - Hannah Sibai Lighting design - Mickie Mannion Musicians and Live Music Composition Carnatic Singing - Supriya Nagarajan Saxophone - Jesse Bannister Mridangam (South Indian drum) - RR. Prathap Western Percussion - Matt Exton

Samay's concert is part of the Danish Cultural Institute's activities in connection with the opening of a new branch in India. Samay, a band of five highly skilled and courageous musicians from India and Europe, will be performing at the Copenhagen Jazz Festival on 6 and 7 July 2013. Why courageous? Because they dare to blend classical Indian music traditions with jazz, flamenco, samba and funk. Rather than trying to explain what this involves, their music should be allowed to speak for itself: Click here myspace.com/s4may, so you can listen to Samay's music while you continue reading.

Unknown territories
The audiences of their concerts in Copenhagen, held at Vartov, the building where the Danish Cultural Institute is based, should prepare themselves for moving into unknown territories to experience something different and highly captivating. Taking the traditional music of India as a base for constructing original arrangements and improvisation as well as using their experience in jazz and various world folk styles, the musicians offer you to "travel far without moving from your seat". After releasing their first album "Songs for a Global Journey", the band had a very busy tour schedule with great performances, including Bridgewater Hall, the City of London Festival, and Fuse Leeds (supporting Andy Sheppar), just to mention a few. The band is currently writing music for their second album which will be released in half a year.
- Tickets: billetnet.dk
- Price: DKK 150 plus fee

Samay is:
Jesse Bannister (UK) saxophone,
Soumik Datta (Bengal, India) sarod,
Giuliano Modarelli (Italy) guitar,
Bhupinder Singh Chaggar (Punjab, India) tabla, and
Kenneth Higgins (UK) bass

   "Samay are blessed with unusually talented musicians"

Fly Global Music

   "Samay are in the vanguard of the Indo Jazz resurgence - at times jaw-droppingly fast and persuasive. There was no shortage of individual talent on display."

Jazzwise

   "Samay's collaboration with The Halle turned out to be one of the highlights of the Festival, and the culturally diverse audience in attendance swayed and danced to some thoroughly fantastic music. The Halle is much indebted to Samay."

The Halle Orchestra

The UK's leading classical Indian / Indo jazz saxophonist Jesse Bannister performs with his new quartet which features MOBO Award-winning pianist Zoe Rahman, the Mercury Prize-nominated drummer Seb Rochford and the groove infused lines of Corrinne Bailey Rae bassist Kenny Higgins. This powerful line-up promises to deliver a challenging and uplifting performance and features tracks from Jesse's long-awaited new album "Play Out".

Group Discounts - enjoy the gig with friends and family
4+ people - 10% off tickets
6+ people - 15% off tickets
Call 0844 847 9910 to book

10+ people - 20% off tickets
Call 0844 875 0070 to book

Please note, these group offers are not available online.

Jesse Bannister writes about his new project 'Play Out' which sees him playing with Zoe Rahman, Seb Rochford, and Kenny Higgins. It has its first outing on the 17th April 2013 at the Queen Elizabeth Hall.

It fills me with great pleasure to be debuting in my home town of London with this brand new project.
A 15 year musical journey has led me to this point (I did get a little distracted on the way); first my interest was in jazz, then I became very focused on Indian classical music for many years. I was fortunate to have amazing teachers along the way and to play with some incredibly talented artists including Bickram Ghosh and Ustad Sukhvinder Singh.

Now the journey comes full circle. I feel very blessed to have the fortune of playing with these three incredible musicians.

I was fortunate in meeting with Zoe Rahman. She is a great jazz player, extremely dedicated and hard working. She has brought a huge amount to the project with her understanding of jazz and Indian music.

The drummer Seb Rochford plays in many genres and is very versatile. He is a great ear for the whole sound and adds melodic and harmonic suggestions as well as providing great grooves.

Kenny Higgins - I have known for 20 years and have played with him in many settings. He is always my first choice for a bass player and brings a real solidity to the overall sound.

The concert at Southbank features all the tracks from the new album 'Play Out', and a taste of one of the tracks entitled 'The Pearl' is at the top of this article.

I feel that we have created our own style through everyone's input and I have seen my compositions really come to life. Rather than this being a fusion of Indian and Jazz I would more describe this as a meeting and a coming together of these two genres. I am at ease with both and feel that each feeds the other in terms of improvisation, melody, harmony, groove, subtlety and clarity. Alchemy 2013 at the South Bank is a truly fitting occasion to share this great music with all Indo/Jazz lovers. I am excited and inspired and ready to 'Play Out'.

We hope to see you there.

Indian Classical Fundraiser Event
To raise funds for our eye, dental & orphanage camps in India & Africa, SikhAid International held a Classical Music Concert on Saturday 16th February 2013 at the Birmingham Conservatoire, Adrian Boult Hall in the centre of Birmingham. The event was a fun packed evening with performances from a variety of renowned classical instrumentalists, vocalists and kathak dancers. The concert featured performances by Sukwinder Singh Pinky on Tabla & Jori, Kirpal Singh Panesar playing Tar-Shehnai, Roopa Panesar playing Sitar, Jesse Bannister on saxophone and Inderjit Singh Bhogal on vocals!

The evening was a huge success, receiving excellent feedback from the audience, which included both classical music enthusiasts and many completely new to the genre. It culminated in a superb finale where all the artists took the stage for a jam to finish the show!

Most importantly though, Sikh Aid International was able to raise over GBP 12,000! Thank you to everyone who attended for their kindness and generosity and to all the volunteers for their hard work that made the event possible.

For more pictures of the fantastic event, please visit photographer Jas Panesar's website. Thank you to Jas for the fantastic photos.

iLEAD and Calcutta Classical Guitar Society in association with Live In Concert present "Jesse Bannister- the incredible saxophone man"

Jesse Bannister and his team including tabla player Gurdain Rayatt deliver a lecture demonstration on indian classical music and performance as part of Bickram Ghosh's Live in Schools initiative

Jesse Bannister is one of the leading Saxophonists in Europe. He has performed throughout England, regularly bringing new and inspiring projects to the UK music scene. Gigs include London Jazz Festival, Darbar, Musicport, Bridgewater Hall, BBC venue and Queen Elizabeth Hall. Jesse has also appeared in Europe, USA and India to high acclaim. He has composed for the Halle Orchestra, Film, TV, Theatre and Dance productions. Jesse co-founded and co-led Indo Jazz ensembles Raga Nova and Samay. He has collaborated with many artists including Bickram Ghosh, Talvin Singh and The Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra. In 2012, Jesse conceived and composed the iPod app Groove India, which was designed and released in collaboration with Leeds College of Music and Mosquitodigital.

Accompanying musicians:
Indrajit Dey - Keyboards
Ratul Shankar - Cajon
Sambit Chatterjee - Drums
Bachospati Chakroborty - Bass