featured XYLOSYNTH PLAYERS

Uffe and Morten behind their 4 octave Mk.IVXylosynth at Roskilde 2002. They also headlined the party in Brussels for the Danish President when he became the EU President.

They now have 2 Mk.IV Xylosynths (one each) and have extesively toured around the world with them.

www.safriduo.com

David is an amazing player and a great teacher. Based in the Jazz Studies Department of the Hochschule der Kunste in Berlin where he is head of the Jazz Studies Department David uses his four octave Xylosynth for teaching, composition and live work. He’s a long term enthusiast for electronic mallet music and has some great plans for the Xylosynth.

Commenting on its playing characteristics he said: “I’ve been waiting years for an electronic mallet instrument I can really play and the Xylosynth is it… The sensitivity and feel are outstanding.”

www.david-friedman.de

One of Britain’s most diverse percussionists, Joby is best known for his work performing new music. He regularly collaborates with artists such as Joanna MacGregor, John Kenny, James Wood, Stewart Copeland, Michael Finnissy, Nitin Sawhney and Sarah Leonard, as well as being a member of Britain’s leading percussion quartet ensemblebash.

www.newnoiselondon.com

Anthony is our original endorser for the Xylosynth. His wise advice has proved invaluable and his be-boptastic playing is an inspiration.

Voted Young Jazz Musician of the Year in 1995 Anthony studied with David Friedman and has made a couple of well received albums.

As you can see from the picture Anthony likes to play his four octave Xylosynth in conjunction with his Musser M55 ProVibe making his solo show one of the most musically fascinating experiemces in contemporary Jazz. He triggers sounds from his Alesis Nanosynth.

Apart from session work Anthony’s credits include the Anthony Kerr Mallet Band, BBC Big Band and Georgie Fame.

anthonykerr.com

Jimmy is a freelance sound engineer and a professional musician who plays the Xylosynth with David Keler.

James Walker is a classically-trained percussionist who specializes in mallet percussion and steel pan, currently residing in southwestern Connecticut. Also active as an educator, he has taught at Ithaca College and Northern Illinois University, he has presented mallet percussion clinics across the United States, and his writings have been published in Jazz Player Magazine (authoring the “Expressive Jazz Techniques” column) and Percussive Notes, the official magazine of the Percussive Arts Society. His debut CD, Rhyme Or Reason, featuring Fareed Haque and Liam Teague, has received radio airplay across the U.S. and around the world. Currently, in addition to his schedule of teaching and performances, he also hosts the mallet percussion forum at tigerbill.com

James currently freelances throughout Connecticut, on drum set, steel pan, mallets, and percussion. He has performed with many of the state’s top musicians, including vocalist Mary Taylor, percussionist Dwight “Professor” Baldwin, multi-instrumentalist Lance James, and saxophonist George Sovak. He is also active in classical music, performing with several regional orchestras.

www.malletjazz.com

Don Moors from the Carribean is playing a 3 Octave Mark 6 Xylosynth in St John and caused a sensation on his first gig there on Sunday 27 August 2006 and St Thomas the night before.

www.donmoors.com

Norman is the percussionist with legendary English reggae band, UB40 and was an early supporter of the Notepad. He took a set of eight to Jamaica in 1996 and has used them on the bands’ last two albums; “Guns in the Ghetto” and “Labour of Love III”. Norman now has several sets of Notepads and has gigged with them successfully around the world.

In fact so happy was Norman with his Notepads that he’s persuaded fellow band members Astro and drummer, Jimmy Brown, to use them too. Norman and Astro use eight Notepads on an Eight Notepad Frame mounted on a cymbal stand while Jimmy has a pair mounted above his Toms.

UB40 gave Wernick our first television appearance on the influential Jools Holland programme and since then have appeared around the world with the Notepads as a permanent fixture in their outstanding stage show. The band also used Notepads in their cameo appearance in the Hollywood blockbuster, Speed 2.

Commenting on the Notepad Norman says:

“I’ve been playing electronic drum pads for most of my career and these are simply the best I’ve ever used.”

www.ub40.co.uk

Pablo was the first professional percussionist to see the potential of the Notepad and was instrumental in its development helping with rigorous tests on tour with the Grid and later Pulp. He is seen in this photo with his Kiknote which he takes on tour, most recently with Moby.

Pablo’s studio credits working as a percussionist for William Orbit include remixes for Blur and Olive and most notably the percussion credit on Madonna’s outstanding Ray of Light album.

Pablo uses his set of Notepads mainly for programming in the studio and finds them invaluable.

www.pablocook.com