The Musicians

Aberaeron Sunset by Jadu UK

Pete Stacey

Born and brought up in Swansea, Pete Stacey studied music at Liverpool University where he won first class honours. He went on to complete a PhD thesis at the University of East Anglia.

As well as being a trained music therapist, Pete is also an active composer: his Concerto for Bansuri, commissioned for Hariprasad Chaurasia and the BBC National Orchestra of Wales, was short-listed for the British Composer Awards in 2004. He went on to collaborate with Radio One DJ, Bobby Friction, in the development of a synthesis of contemporary British Asian music and orchestral soundscapes (Three Cities Festival 2005). In 2010 he completed a commission for BBc Three composing a Sitar Concerto for  Nishat Khan, India's leading Sitar player. The 45 minute concert will be performed with the Philharmonia Orchestra in 2011.

Pete’s commitment to musical creativity is also manifested in an involvement in improvised music. He plays contemporary jazz with Western Arc as well as world-music-jazz with Mojas.

Pete performs with Dance India Wales and toured with them in their show 'Life' during the autumn of 2009. 

Pete plays soprano saxophone, alto flute and bansuri (Indian bamboo flute) with JADU

Rajesh David 

Rajesh’s voice is soft yet powerful, sweet as honey and full of devotion. Born in India into a family of singers, he completed his education and Indian Classical music training there before moving to the UK, and he has made Wales his home.

Rajesh grew up in an atmosphere of music; both his parents were singers and educated him in the art from an early age, which played a fundamental role in shaping his own music. He went on to train under masters such as Gautam Mukherjee, Pandit K. Mahavir, Pandit Ajay Pohankar and Ustaad Momin Ali Khan. He regularly performed his songs on All India Radio, who awarded him an 'A' grade as a professional singer. He also gave concerts on stage and television.

He was deeply interested in yoga and qualified as a yoga teacher in India. Finding a deep connection between music and yoga, he explored this concept through the study and practice of Nada Yoga - The Yoga of Subtle Sound. After moving to the UK, he lived in the Mandala Yoga Ashram in Wales for four years, where he deepened his understanding and practice of Nada Yoga and started teaching. He now conducts courses and seminars and gives concerts all over the UK and abroad.

A composer as well as a singer, he has produced several CDs of devotional music, the most recent being his compositions to the verses of the Mandukya Upanishad.

Kelly Smith

Kelly has been playing Indian percussion since 1995. Originally he played pakhawaj to accompany kirtans (hindu chants). He studied this instrument with several teachers including his father. In 1999 he began studying tabla with Pandit Sanju Sahai of the Benaris Garana (house of music). He also spent a year or so studying and touring with the Dohl Foundation. In 2001 he moved to upstate New York to work in an Ashram (Yoga Retreat Centre) where he was a drum mentor, playing and teaching and studying drum and Indian music. During this time he studied with Pandit Samir Chattergee, of the Farukabad Garana, who has been a very inspirational influence on his music. Kelly returned to the U.K in 2004 and continued studying tabla with Sanju Sahai. In 2005 he became a member of Tarang, the UK National Indian Music Ensemble. Kelly performed with Tarang on the 6th of March 2011 at Queen Elizabeth Hall, Southbank in the concert 'Confluence' , the first time SAMYO ( The National South Asian Music Youth Orchestra) and Tarang have played publicly together. (www.milapfest.com)

Kelly has also worked with Nikki Slade in her ‘Free the Inner Voice’ workshops (www.freetheinnervoice.com) and plays tabla and pakhawaj on the CD’s Nectarine and Monsoon.

Links: http://www.youtube.com/kellyaesmith

Paul Uden 

A frequent visitor to David Bowie’s arts lab at the 3 Tuns in South London, Paul played his first public performance there in December 1969, playing the bongos with Steve Chapple and Tim Mann of local beat combo Gun Hill, contemporaries of art-folk legends Comus. He went on to spend the next 40 years in and around the music world whether doing T.V. with Kiki Dee, recording with reggae superstar Sugar Minott, or touring with Scottish songwriter Davy Miller. Paul has always pursued his own style of guitar playing and when he moved to Wales in 1987 he began to develop the acoustic style heard in JADU When, in 2000, Paul met Pete Stacey they formed Mojas, the smallest big band in Wales, playing Latin, African and jazz dance music around the local area. They first met Kelly in 2005, and the rest, so they say is….history

His influences include Joseph Zawinal, Miles Davis and John Martyn. Paul also composes many of the themes that serve as launching pads for JADU's transcendent music.

Bryan Smith

Bryan, also known as Smudger, has been playing Tamboura and Pakhawaj since the early 1980’s, mainly as accompaniment to kirtans (Indian chants). He has spent time in ashrams in the UK, India and America and has a deep love for devotional music. Bryan  has been making music since the sixties, playing with John Lee Hooker, Buddy Guy, Georgie Fame, The Kinks, Zoot Money, P J Proby, TheWho, Donovan & Manfred Mann. He is an infectious, rythmic guitar player, writes memorable songs, has a voice full of soul and plays great blues rifs on the harmonica. He also performs as 'Smudger and Jim', with Jim Hackford, playing an eclectic and highly entertaining set which ranges from Italian Tarantellas, through Pink Floyd to Monty Python, and as 'Jester', a sometime band and present duo with guitar legend Davy Jones, playing soulful blues and rock.

Links: http://www.blackearthmedia.co.uk/Dharmadas, http://www.blackearthmedia.co.uk/jesterband, http://www.youtube.com/jimhackford&smudger