11.13
David Friedman
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.”
Joby Burgess
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.
Anthony Kerr
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.
Jimmy Tillier
Jimmy is a freelance sound engineer and a professional musician who plays the Xylosynth with David Keler.
Norman Hassan (UB40)
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.”