Olly Sarkar-Samuels

Olly Sarkar-Samuels

Chelsea Carmichael, Independent, TrinityLaban

“Olly Sarkar-Samuels on drums is as good as you would hear on any iconic Jazz master’s Blue Note album from the 50s and 60s and more besides.” As said by Illicit groove. Recent highlights include European and International dates with Saxophonists Chelsea Carmichael, Nubya Garcia & Franco American pianist Tom Sochas, which have featured, New York Winter Jazz Festival, Montreal Jazz Festival, Roma Jazz Festival, Jazz à la Villiette & Venues such as, Flagey Brussels, Birdland Hamburg, Fasching Stockholm, Earth Theatre Hackney & Cité de la musique Paris. Olly has performed at venues such as Ronnie Scotts, The Jazz Café, The Elgar room, XOYO, The Royal Festival Hall, The Queen Elizabeth Hall, Pizza Express Jazz Club, The 606, The Vortex, Band on the Wall and Cadogan Hall. He has recorded live radio sessions for BBC Radio 2 with Jamie Cullum, World music on BBC radio 3, BBC 6 music and pre-recorded sessions at Herts Jazz for BBC Jazz on 3. Sarkar has recorded live streams for Ronnie Scotts Jazz Club, Camden Roundhouse Rising Festival, the British Music Embassy’s SXSW showcase and Jazz Re:Freshed’s SXSW showcase live from Abbey Road studio 2. When not performing, Olly is a Drumkit tutor, lecturer and ensemble leader at the prestigious TrinityLaban Conservatoire of Music and Dance in London. He also runs music education projects and masterclasses and releases educational online content through his business PucPad. Olly proudly endorses Canopus drums, Zildjian Cymbals and Vic Firth Drumsticks.

Olly
Sarkar-Samuels's
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Olly Sarkar-Samuels's
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  • Most Memorable Next-Level Performance?

    Smida Jazz Festival with Chelsea Carmichael Nikos Ziarkas and Mutale Chashi, which is at the highest point in Romania, while I was sound checking there was a thunderstorm which was louder than my drums. By the time we played the storm had cleared but there were still heavy clouds and still a real tense atmosphere which was an amazing place to start playing music from. The set opens with an open sax and guitar duet into a drum solo, no lack of inspiration there I remember not having a single creative block and everything just flowed, must have been the thunder!

  • What Drives Your Creativity?

    Discovering different sounds, textures and emotions through music. and how to convey that in my own playing for the musicians I am playing with and the audiences that we are playing to.

  • Why Do You Choose Vic Firth?

    Super consistent and always perfectly well balanced and straight with really clear-cutting tips. There are always 3 different fulcrums that can be utilized with Vic Firth Sticks as the build quality is so good that you can get clarity of sound holding the sticks in different places.

Olly Sarkar-Samuels’S GO-TO’S

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