Babu

Members

Kesivan Naidoo - Drums and cymbals

Kesivan is the 2009 Standard Bank Young Artist of the Year for Jazz. He is one of South Africa’s leading young musicians, frequently touring and performing in several parts of the world. He was born in 1979 in East London and started playing drum set age 10. He became principal percussionist with both the Orchestra and Drummer for the Big Bands at Hudson Park High School (1992 -1996). In 1993 The Orchestra went on tour to Germany, France and England.

He made his professional debut in 1994 and was a member the National Youth Jazz Orchestra 1995, 1999 and 2000. The National Youth Band of 1999 which toured New York. In 1997 he enrolled for Jazz studies at the University of Cape Town. He completed his BMus in 2000 and BMus Honours in 2002 (Performance and Composition) First Class.

He was the first South African to perform with the Kennedy Centre Jazz Ambassadors during their South African tour of 1998.

Awards:
• SAMRO Overseas Scholarship Competition 2000. Later took up the scholarship in India to study under Prof. Sanjoy Banbopadhyay.
• UCT Honours Counsel Scholarship (2002).
• Standard Bank Young Artist of the Year for Jazz (2009).

Performances:
North Sea Jazz Festival Holland (2002); Chillimontana Festival Italy (2003); Cape Town International Jazz Festival (2002, 2003, 2007 and 2008); Swedish Jazz Celebration Stockholm (2007); Leipzig Jazz Festival (2007).

Other projects:
TRIBE; GOLLIWOG; CLOSET SNARE; RESTLESS NATIVES; and BEAT BAG BOHEMIA

Reza Khota - Guitar

Reza was born in Johannesburg in 1977 and was introduced to the guitar by his father. He began his formal training with Jeremy Karodia at the age of ten, studying rock and classical guitar as well as chord theory. He later studied classical guitar and improvisation with Faizel Boorany, who fired his enthusiasm for experimental jazz, the classical avant-garde and progressive guitar music.

After enrolling for his BMus degree at Wits University, he furthered his classical guitar studies under David Hewitt. Reza has since received master-classes from Norwegian guitarist Vegard Lund  and the Austrian crossover guitarist/composer Helmut Jasbar.

Awards:

• Numerous SAMRO bursaries and merit awards
• First prize in the National Classical Guitar Competition (1998), adjudicated by the renowned Czech guitarist/composer Stepan Rak. He also received master- classes from the maestro during his visit to South Africa.
   

Reza now holds a BMus degree with a distinction in performance, a Performers Certificate with distinction from the Trinity College of Music and a Masters degree with distinction from Wits University.  He performs regularly on the South African circuit and has extended his musical prowess to include Jazz and Indian Classical music. 

Shane Cooper - Bass

Shane was born in Port Elizabeth in 1985, and graduated from UCT in 2008 with a degree in jazz performance. He began playing guitar at age 13 and soon moved to the electric bass. His early interests were in rock, jazz and funk music. He joined his high school jazz big band, and played with different musicians and groups at folk clubs and jam sessions around PE.

At age 16 he began playing professionally with The Raw Materials, playing jazz and funk. A few years later he developed an interest in the double bass, and began teaching himself to play.

Ronan Skillen - Tabla, Extended Percussion and Didgeridoo

Ronan was born in 1980 in Northern Ireland. His career as a musician started at age 10 in Germany, where he played French horn in three orchestras for seven years. He was then introduced to the Australian didgeridoo by Ghanaian master drummer Emmanuel Gomado which sparked many new avenues and collaborations.

After much self-teaching and musical travels Ronan settled in Cape Town and began playing tabla in 2002. He was invited to study the table in Delhi. His teacher, Ustad Akram Khan, is a master of a very rich and intricately technical North Indian style known as the Ajarara Gharana. As a disciple of the musical style and the table, Ronan regularly visits India to further his studies.

Ronan’s musical career has evolved through all genres of music with specific focus on jazz / world music.

Major influences: Shakti and Trilok Gurtu which led him to explore a fusion of tabla, percussion and didgeridoo by means of a hybrid percussion kit designed by Ronan. This allows for a rich textural variety as well as an intriguing versatility.

Ronan has performed in SA, Europe and India.