Sir Real Jazz is a group of young, well grounded and talented musicians available to play in and around the London area. Specifically the core bands are located in South Kensington, LONDON and High Wycombe, BUCKS.
Sir Real was started originally as a quartet in September 2005 by Rob Cossins and Chaz Keiderling joined by Mark Johnson and Phil Warrilow-Wilson, all attending the Royal Grammar School High Wycombe at the time. The group was soon playing frequent gigs and regular 'deps' slowly became regular members and so the decision was made that it would no longer be a quartet but a group with a varied size band depending on the number of players required.
After the core band left to go to university in the summer 2007 it was increasingly difficult to perform during the term dates and Chaz Keiderling established a second core band from Imperial College London in January 2008. The members include Rick Powell, John Prestage, Mark Tan and himself.
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Chaz KEIDERLING (DipABRSM) - Tenor Sax/Admin As a child Chaz wanted to play the trumpet, his parents knew better and gave him a sax instead aged 7. After training classically with Keith Pocock he turned his focus towards Jazz in 2004 where he found his true passion lies. Since, he has gained alot of experience playing in many jazz groups including big bands, sax ensembles, many musicals and a regular 'dep'. Over the years Chaz has learnt with Claire McInerney, Jay Craig and Richard Bolton all well grounded Jazz artists. In Feb 05 he toured Virginia and California, USA, performing as a soloist on saxophone, flute and clarinet. Chaz is now studying clarinet performance at the Royal College of Music (RCM) with Martin Robertson and physics at Imperial College London. He plays tenor sax in IC Big Band and clarinet in Imperial College Symphony Orchestra (ICSO). |
Rick POWELL (ATCL) - Piano Rick 'the goat' Powell started playing piano at the age of 6 and progressed quickly in early years with the useful aide of perfect pitch. He studied with Caroline Clemmow between the ages 15-18 before leaving home to go to university. Taking encouragement from first prize awards in various local music festivals he has since then gone on to play the Warsaw concerto with North Lincolnshire Youth Orchestra and play for Wilton operatic music society. Within the local community Rick has also played with his Methodist church music group, ultimately helping to broaden his grasp of different playing styles.
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John Prestage (DipABRSM) – Drums Having played piano and trumpet since the age of 7, John first picked up his sticks at 11. A matter of minutes later and he was playing in his first band, knocking out rather shaky versions of a highly random selection of songs. In the following 7 years, John has played drums in many jazz, rock, soul and big bands and turned into the rhythmical powerhouse he is today on the Sir Real throne. He currently studies Physics and Trumpet performance with Andrew Crowley in London with Chaz and Rick and he also plays trumpet in IC Big Band and in (ICSO). However his real passion lies in studio sound engineering (after playing drums in Sir Real of course...) having worked at Rockfield and Yellow Shark studios working with artists such as the Wombats. John likes to model his life on Garfield the cat and has a bizarre liking of jazz violin (but Chaz isn't having any of it). |
Mark Tan – Bass From the sunny island of Singapore, Mark had been involved in the jazz scene locally since 2003, until October 2007 when he came to Imperial College to pursue Medical Studies. Holding a Grade8 ABRSM Distinction for the Double Bass, and having studied jazz privately under Derek Tan, Lecturer of Jazz and Contemporary Studies at Lasalle-SIA College Of The Arts, he went on to become founder and chairman of the jazz band in Raffles Junior College. During his time in Singapore, he has performed at prestigious festivals and venues such as CHIJMES Jazz Festival, United Nations Environment Programme Exhibition, Esplanade Theatres and Sentosa, and was also the resident bassist for Singapore Jazz Orchestra. |
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Debra Lam – Vocalist Debra’s been singing her entire life. Her first proper song was done at the age of three when she surprised the crap out of her dad by singing back in perfect key his lullaby song. It was ‘You’ve got a Friend’ (James Taylor), and she got all the words right. Before she found jazz, she was a non committal mezzo soprano opera singer, taking a grade 7 Trinity Vocal Exam for the kicks of it. She aced all her songs, but failed miserably at sight reading, having no proper music training. She also sang in various choirs and acapella groups and performed in Singapore’s biggest performance theatre called the Esplanade. Then came junior college and she was pleased to expand her horizons into the sexy genre of jazz. Debra never turned back since. She’s performed as a jazz singer with numerous bands and thinks she’s found her one true love. |
Rob Cossins – Trumpet/Piano Rob from the not so sunny High Wycombe is a distinguished trumpeter with a ABRSM grade8 and 11 years of playing under his belt and has a wealth of playing and musical experience. With music running in the family as the son of two musicians and grandson of Keith Pocock, Rob has also been directed by Jay Craig and Richard Bolton alongside Chaz. He regularly deps in big bands, small groups and orchestras, whilst being a regular on local show scenes. Over the years he played in such venues as the Royal Albert Hall, Birmingham Symphony Hall and Royal Festival Hall. Very impartial to scream trumpet, unlike most trumpeters, and is a regular attendee of National Youth Jazz Orchestra (NYJO). He has also taken up jazz piano in recent years, citing Mccoy Tyner, Chick Corea and Keith Jarrett as favourites. Currently on a gap year travelling, Rob will be starting his studies in economics at Manchester University in september 2008. |
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Russell Pusey – Piano Russell has been playing the piano since the age of 4. He has always had a good ear for improvisation and has also been classically trained, attaining grade 8 ABRSM in 2006. At 19 he currently studies Music Multimedia and Electronics at The University of Leeds. Russell was introduced to jazz when he began playing for the school jazz band. He drew his early inspiration from the modern stance on the standards provided by the likes of Michael Buble and Jamie Cullum. Recently, Russell has enjoyed playing with Soul Purpose Jazz, doing a similar thing to Sir Real, gigging regularly for parties, weddings and corporate functions. Originally from High Wycombe, he has recorded with High Wycombe Music Centre Big Band and been involved with the Berks Youth Jazz Orchestra. (Russell also dabbles in classical guitar and really wants to learn the sax!) |
