Sandro Roy – Exploration

Description

Sandro Roy – violin, guitar

Boris Netsvetaev – piano, synthesizer

Jan Prax – saxophone

Sven Jungbeck – rhythmguitar

Volker Kamp & Stefan Berger – bass

Sandro Roy fuses the horizons of classical music and jazz on his violin to create an unrivalled aesthetic and virtuoso style. At the highest musical level, he is able to combine the gipsy swing of his ancestors, breathtaking improvisation, technical brilliance and a tone full of charm and warmth in his violin playing.

Despite his almost youthful age, Roy can already look back on a long musical career with concerts at renowned festivals and solo appearances with prestigious big bands and orchestras in major concert halls.

Now the grooving violinist is releasing his new album Exploration.

Prof. Paulo Morello, renowned guitarist and artistic director of the Jazz Institute at the Berlin University of the Arts (UdK), writes in his liner notes to Roys’ new work:

“On his fourth album, Exploration, Sandro Roy continues his musical odyssey, navigating the possibilities between Gypsy Swing, Modern Jazz, and Classical music. This time, he introduces his always grooving Unity Band featuring Boris Netsvetaev on piano and synthesizer, Jan Prax on saxophone, Sven Jungbeck on rhythm guitar, and bassists Volker Kamp and Stefan Berger.”

Original compositions such as Funky in “e”, Song pour Kirkland and Funky Unity show Roy and his Unity Band as a groovy unit with a deep understanding of modern jazz harmony and melody.

With The Man I Love as a jazz ballad and Our Love Is Here To Stay as a traditional gypsy swing, Roy pays tribute to one of the most important composers of the Great American Songbook: George Gershwin.

“Violin first, but I love jazz guitar” says Sandro Roy and surprises with his masterful guitar playing on Jim Hall’s Bossa Nova Beija-Flor, which has never been heard before on his recordings. Here he enters into an improvisational dialogue with himself on guitar and violin.

The album’s grand finale features Sandro Roy’s impressive classical work, “Fantaisie pour violon et orchestre op.4,” in a live version recorded in 2022 with the Bavarian Chamber Philharmonic. Roy comments, “I tried to bring together all my skills, knowledge, and sonic ideas. There are both romantic and modern-sounding passages, challenging solo cadenzas, and virtuoso unison passages with all the strings.”

Another quote from Prof Paulo Morello’s liner notes:

“Exploration is Sandro Roy’s most mature and cohesive album, showcasing the virtuoso on violin and guitar in all his facets and artistic expressions. It leaves an incredible desire to immediately replay the album again and again… and a strong urge to experience Sandro Roy live at one of his many concerts. Bravo Sandro Roy!”

Sandro Roy is considered one of the most promising young classical and jazz violinists in the world. The artist from Augsburg / Germany released his debut album Where I Come From in 2015.

Since then, the exceptional artist has been highly praised in the press and has played at festivals in Europe, the USA and Asia. These have included solo appearances with the NDR Big Band, the Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen and the National Chamber Philharmonic Orchestra Prague.

In 2019, Sandro Roy played a concert as a soloist with the Munich Radio Orchestra under the motto “Gypsy goes Classic” in the sold-out Prinzregententheater in Munich, which was broadcast live on BR Klassik.

Other highlights included television appearances on ZDF Morgenmagazin, a live show on BBC Radio and a sold-out concert at the legendary Ronnie Scott’s Jazz Club London together with Jermaine Landsberger and Roby Lakatos. In the same season, he made his solo debut with the Concertgebouw Chamber Orchestra Amsterdam, where he performed Bach and Ravel’s Tzigane.