Zoe Rahman | |
|---|---|
 Rahman performing in June 2008 | |
| Background information | |
| Born | 20 January 1971 Chichester, West Sussex, England |
| Genres | Jazz |
| Occupation(s) |
|
| Instrument(s) |
|
| Years active | 1998–present |
| Labels | Manushi |
| Website | www |
Zoe Rahman (born 20 January 1971) is an English jazz composer and pianist.
Rahman was born and brought up in Chichester, West Sussex, England, [1] by a Bengali father, Mizan Rahman, [2] and an English-Irish mother. [3] Her mother was a doctor who grew up in New Zealand. [4] Rahman describes her childhood as being "completely English" [5] and has described herself as culturally "very English". [6] Her father's family is from Dhaka. [1] Her maternal grandmother is from Ireland. [7]
Rahman started off playing classical piano when she was about four years old. Her family had a piano that her parents had bought for £10 and Rahman's older sister started to play; her other two siblings and Rahman followed her footsteps. Rahman and her younger brother, Idris, got into listening to jazz when they were teenagers and tried to work out how to play. Rahman had jazz piano lessons with various teachers and found opportunities to gig with other musicians. [1]
She studied classical piano at the Royal Academy of Music, received a music degree at St Hugh's College, University of Oxford, and won a scholarship to study jazz performance at Berklee College of Music in Boston, [2] where she had lessons with pianist Joanne Brackeen. [8] While in America she formed her own trio, which featured bassist Joshua Davis and drummer Bob Moses.
In 2002, Rahman discovered Bengali music, when her father was hospitalised and she had transferred some of his cassette tapes of 1950s Bengali music to CDs for him to listen to while he recuperated. [6] Rahman became intrigued by the sounds and subsequent trips to Bangladesh allowed Rahman to learn about her background through music. [2]
Rahman has been the featured artist on radio and television programmes such as Courtney Pine's Jazz Crusade on BBC Radio 2, BBC Radio 4's Woman's Hour , BBC London's Now's the Time, Andrea Oliver's The Selector , Northern Broadcasting Internet Radio, Resonance FM and Julian Joseph's Jazz series for Meridian Television. She has performed live on the BBC World Service and on BBC Radio 3's In Tune .
In 2001, her debut album The Cynic was released. In July 2006, her second album Melting Pot was released. [9] Melting Pot was nominated for the Mercury Music Prize Album of the Year and won Jazz Album of the Year at the Parliamentary Jazz Awards in 2006. [10] In September 2008, her third album Where Rivers Meet was released. [2] In May 2009, her fourth album Zoe Rahman Trio: Live was released. [11] In January 2012, her fifth album Kindred Spirits was released. [12] Kindred Spirits won the Best Jazz Act award at the 2012 MOBO Awards. [13]
Rahman was sought out by music producer Paul Vlcek to play with George Mraz. In July 2013, their album Unison was released. [14] Rahman's first solo piano album, Dreamland, was recorded in 2015 and released by Manushi. [15] [16]
Aside from working with her own groups, Rahman continues to perform and record (both in the UK and internationally) with a diverse range of other artists. These have included: Courtney Pine; Clark Tracey's New Quintet; Soothsayers; Jerry Dammers' Spatial AKA Orchestra; Keziah Jones (2003/2004 European tours); David Walcott (2003 Festival, Barbados); Mekaal Hasan (2001 tour, Pakistan). She co-wrote a jazz-based theatre show, I'm a Fool to Want You, about the French writer/musician Boris Vian, with Told by an Idiot Theatre Company (UK / South American tours 2003–2005).
Other albums or DVDs that she has appeared on include: Courtney Pine's Song (The Ballad Book) and Europa; Reem Kelani's Sprinting Gazelle; the Clark Tracey Quintet's The Calling and The Mighty Sa; Tony Bianco's In a Western Sense; Gary Boyle's Games; Soothsayers' Tangled Roots; Brigitte Escobar's Brigitte; Terry Hall/Mushtaq's The Hour of Two Lights ; Cevanne Horrocks-Hopayian's Big Ears; and Keziah Jones's Live at the Élysée Montmartre DVD.
Rahman composed the piano score for the 2020 touring production of The Strange Tale of Charlie Chaplin and Stan Laurel. [17]
Rahman has toured extensively throughout the UK and internationally, including North Sea Jazz Festival, Molde Jazz Festival, Palermo Jazz Festival, Algeria's European Cultural Festival, Cork Jazz Festival, Estonia's Nargen Festival, Barbados Jazz Festival and Rochester International Jazz Festival. [1]
From 2009 to 2012, Rahman toured with Jerry Dammers' The Spatial AKA Orchestra, bringing Sun Ra to a new audience. She also worked with bands led by bassist Danny Thompson, exploring the legacy of songwriter Nick Drake; singer Martha Wainwright; and saxophonist Courtney Pine. [18]
Rahman has a son, who was born in 2014. [4]
Rahman has been described in The Observer as "one of the finest young pianists in Europe" and "a remarkable pianist by any standard". [8]
| Year | Work | Award | Category | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1999 | Perrier Young Jazz Award | Young Jazz Musician of the Year | Won [9] | |
| 2001 | The Cynic | BBC Radio 3 | Jazz Album of the Year Review | Shortlisted |
| BBC Jazz Awards | Rising Star | Nominated | ||
| 2006 | Melting Pot | Mercury Music Prize | Album of the Year | Nominated |
| Parliamentary Jazz Awards | Jazz Album of the Year | Won | ||
| 2012 | Kindred Spirits | MOBO Awards | Best Jazz Act | Won |
An asterisk (*) indicates that the year is that of release.
| Year recorded | Title | Label | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2001* | The Cynic | Manushi | Trio, with Jeremy Brown (bass), Winston Clifford (drums) |
| 2006* | Melting Pot | Manushi | Trio, most tracks with Oli Hayhurst (bass), Gene Calderazzo (drums); one track with Jeremy Brown (bass), Pat Illingworth (drums); one track with Idris Rahman (clarinet), Adriano Adewale Itaúna (udu) |
| 2007 | Zoe Rahman Trio: Live | Manushi | Most tracks trio, with Oli Hayhurst (bass), Gene Calderazzo (drums); two tracks quartet, with Idris Rahman (clarinet) added; in concert; released 2009 |
| 2007 | Where Rivers Meet | Manushi | Co-led with Idris Rahman (clarinet); most tracks also with Samy Bishai (violin), Oli Hayhurst (bass), Gene Calderazzo (drums), Kuljit Bhamra (tabla); some tracks with Arnob, Gaurob, Joseph Aquilina, Mizan Rahman (vocals) added; released 2008 |
| 2011 | Kindred Spirits | Manushi | Some tracks trio, with Oli Hayhurst (bass), Gene Calderazzo (drums); some tracks quartet, with Idris Rahman (clarinet, bass clarinet) or Courtney Pine (alto flute) added; released 2012 |
| 2013* | Unison | Cube-Metier | Duo, co-led with George Mraz (bass) |
| 2015 | Dreamland | Manushi | Solo piano |
| 2023 | Colour of Sound | Manushi | Eight-piece band, including Idris Rahman, Gene Caldarazzo (drums), Alec Dankworth (bass), Alex Ridout (trumpet), Rosie Turton (trombone), Rowland Sutherland (flute) and Byron Wallen (trumpet) [19] |
John Taylor was a British jazz pianist, born in Manchester, England, who occasionally performed on the organ and the synthesizer. In his obituary, The Guardian described him as "one of the great jazz pianists and composers of his generation" and at a musical level comparable to Herbie Hancock, Chick Corea, Keith Jarrett, McCoy Tyner and Brad Meldhau.
Paul Bley, CM was a Canadian jazz pianist known for his contributions to the free jazz movement of the 1960s as well as his innovations and influence on trio playing and his early live performance on the Moog and ARP synthesizers. His music has been described by Ben Ratliff of the New York Times as "deeply original and aesthetically aggressive". Bley's prolific output includes influential recordings from the 1950s through to his solo piano recordings of the 2000s.
Liane Carroll is an English vocalist, pianist and keyboardist.
Bradford Alexander Mehldau is an American jazz pianist, composer, and arranger.
Gary Husband is an English jazz and rock drummer, pianist, keyboard player and bandleader. He is also a composer, arranger and producer.
Nikki Yeoh is a British jazz pianist who has worked with Courtney Pine, Cleveland Watkiss, Steve Williamson, Chante Moore, The Roots and Neneh Cherry. Born in London, Yeoh is of mixed race origin, having a father from Malaysia and a British mother. Some of her first music teachers were Don Rendell and Ian Carr.
Sylvie Courvoisier is a composer, pianist, improviser and bandleader. She was born and raised in Lausanne, Switzerland, and has been a resident of New York City since 1998. She won Germany’s International Jazz Piano Prize in 2022 and was named Pianist of the Year for 2023 in the international critics poll of Spanish jazz publication El Intruso. NPR’s Kevin Whitehead has encapsulated the distinctive character of Courvoisier’s art this way: “Some pianists approach the instrument like it’s a cathedral. Sylvie Courvoisier treats it like a playground.”
John Kenneth Pochée, OAM was an Australian jazz drummer and bandleader. As drummer, bandleader and organizer he played a major role in the history of Australian jazz.
Alex Wilson is a British pianist, composer, producer, arranger, and educator.
Robert Mitchell is an English jazz musician, composer and teacher.
Melting Pot is the second studio album by English jazz composer Zoe Rahman, released on 1 July 2006 by Manushi Records.
Idris Rahman is an English clarinettist, saxophonist and record producer.
Shama Sarwat Rahman is a British singer-songwriter, sitarist, storyteller, performance artist, filmmaker and actor.
Donna Singer is an American jazz vocalist. She has reached the top 50 charts for various national and international terrestrial radio stations. Her music has been recognized in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Australia, South Africa, the Netherlands, Norway, and Japan. She performs a variety of songs from classic jazz composers such as George Gershwin and Arthur Hamilton, as well as original works by her husband, pianist and composer Roy Singer.
Where Rivers Meet is a studio album by English musicians Zoe and Idris Rahman, released on 22 September 2008 by Manushi Records.
Zoe Rahman Trio: Live is the fourth studio album by English jazz composer Zoe Rahman, released on 11 May 2009 by Manushi Records.
Kindred Spirits is the fifth studio album by English jazz composer Zoe Rahman, released on 23 January 2012 by Manushi Records.
Michael Mondesir is an English jazz bass guitarist, and composer. He is one of the most in demand jazz bass players in Europe, touring regularly with drummer Billy Cobham, Cream (band) drummer Ginger Baker and James Brown musical director Pee Wee Ellis. He is credited as bass player on over twenty major name jazz albums.
Sahana Bajpaie is an Indian singer-songwriter and a contemporary Rabindra Sangeet vocalist in Bengali. Born in Siliguri and brought up in Santiniketan, Sahana started singing by the age of three. She released her debut album Notun Kore Pabo Bole in 2007 from Dhaka, Bangladesh, which was a collection of Rabindra Sangeet. Her second album Shikawr released in 2014 with several musicians from West Bengal. Sahana's second Rabindra Sangeet album Ja Bolo Tai Bolo was released in 2015 and the latest solo album, Mon Bandhibi Kemone in 2016.
Kindred is a collaborative studio album by jazz pianist Jacky Terrasson and jazz vibraphonist Stefon Harris. The album was released on March 3, 2001, by Blue Note label. The album was nominated for Grammy Award as Best Jazz Instrumental Album.
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
| Artists | |
