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.stephen kent

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In the Global music scene Stephen Kent is among the most established musicians playing the Didjeridu in a contemporary context. Born English he was raised in E. Africa and Devon, England and in 1981, after several years of work in London with the band Furious Pig, moved to Australia to become Musical Director of Australias Circus Oz. Concern for the plight of Australias Aboriginal peoples was a prime cause in the group's work and this led him to spend time among Aborigines in the center of Australia. This resulted in his learning to play the Didjeridu in 1982.

Returning to Europe in 1983 and basing himself in London and Barcelona, he began a series of music and Contemporary Dance collaborations that increasingly focused on the Didjeridu. On the other hand, he continued to develop his performance skills in the Circus Arts andtoured the world for 3 years with Ra Ra Zoo, jumping in and out of a locked suitcase.

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.solo

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As a Solo Artist, Kent has produced 3 albums --'Songs From the Burnt Earth', 'Landing' and most recently, 'Family Tree'-- a double CD that includes both a retrospective look at over 10 years of recordings with the Didjeridu emphasizing previously unreleased music, remixes and also a 2nd CD of solo Didjeridu journeys into deep space. 'Landing' occupied the top ten of CMJ's world music charts for over 4 months; it features a wide range of didge settings including collaborations with percussion, p'iri and vocals as well as 4 solo pieces.

In concert he has played all over the world and shared the bill with many renowned performers including, Youssou Ndour, Baaba Maal, Yma Sumac, Zap Mama, Boukman Eksperyans, Fatala, Diamanda Galas and John Paul Jones, Herbie Hancock and Wayne Shorter, King Sunny Ade, Yothu Yindi, Toni Childs, Yungchen Lhamo, Badi Assad, Steve Shehan, David Hudson
and Janawirri Yiparrka among others.

Apart from his own musical projects Stephen is also involved with the promotion of World Music on radio, programming a weekly show on KPFA 94.1 FM in Northern California.

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.group projects

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The group Lights in a Fat City evolved in the mid-Eighties London, playing initially on a magic carpet in Camden Lock market, and in 1987/88 produced the landmark recording, 'Somewhere', - the first international release to feature the 'Didge' as a focal part of cutting edge contemporary music. Between '88 and '91 LIAFC performed in numerous music Festivals in Europe and N. America including Womad, Leipzig and Zurich Jazz Festivals '89, Winnipeg Folk Festival '89, '90, '91, New Music America '90, New York International Festival of the Arts '91.

After touring in N. America in 1991 he shifted base to the San Francisco Bay Area where he co-formed the groups Trance Mission
[with Beth Custer, Kenneth Newby and John Loose] and Beasts of Paradise [with Eda Maxym, Barbara Imhoff, Nancy Kaspar and Geoffrey Gordon] and continued to build a solo performing and recording career.

His involvement with the Bay Area record company, City of Tribes, has produced a series of CD releases to date, the most current being Trance Mission's Fourth CD 'A Day Out of Time' recorded live on July 25th, 1998 in Berkeley, California. It was released in April '99.

Both Trance Mission and Beasts of Paradise have performed widely in the States, to critical acclaim, and Trance Mission have had several successful European Tours in the last 2 years, as has Stephen Kent with vocalist and partner Eda Maxym.