Sean Khan

Sean Khan is a London based saxophonist and multi-instrumentalist. Having studied classical music at Goldsmiths College during the 90s, with a lack of jazz modules available on the course, Sean would study jazz theory and technique in his spare time. It was in the early 2000s that Sean first started to infiltrate London’s jazz scene and make a name for himself, gaining enough momentum to almost clinch a record deal with Sony. Perhaps too progressive for a major label, it was that very same recording that caught the ears of Mike Slocombe of Goya Music, the keystone label and distributor at the epicentre of the the broken beat movement. This became what can arguably be considered to be the world’s first broken beat album, When Will We Belong by SK Radicals. A lone-wolf jazzer in and amongst a plethora of producers and djs, that hugely significant record placed Sean as one of the scene’s key pioneers and led to working with the likes of Bugz in the Attic, Kaidi Tatham, Daz-I-Kue, Recloose, and Mark De Clive Lowe. And in more recent years Sean’s had his tracks remixed by Henry Wu, 4Hero, Ben Hauke and Nicola Conte.

Signing to Far Out in 2011 saw in a new era for Sean, as he was provided a platform to fully explore the wide jazz spectrum that guides his versatile sound. His debut solo album Slow Burner received critical acclaim from the likes of John Armstrong (BBC), Jack Massarik (Evening Standard), Mike Chadwick (Jazz FM) and Jon Lusk (BBC), and his 2015 follow up Muriel, a tribute to his late mother Muriel McGinley, featured collaborations with the world renowned vocal talents of Omar, Heidi Vogel and Sabrina Malheiros. Described simply by Jazzwise Magazine as “Stunning”, the acclaim and success of this album led to Sean and his band play to sell out crowds at Ronnie Scott’s and The Jazz Cafe. Sean has also shared a stage with Nicola Conte, Nina Miranda, Marcos Valle, Sun-Ra and Pharoah Sanders collaborator Clifford Jarvis, Bheki Mseleku, Joe Armon-Jones, Binker Golding, Lisa Stansfield, and even the Beastie Boys.

In the summer of 2016, Sean ventured to Rio de Janeiro with Far Out founder and executive producer Joe Davis to record Palmares Fantasy, a collaboration with the iconic Brazilian polymath Hermeto Pascoal and his most ambitious project to date. Set for release in spring 2018, the album takes its title from an escaped slave settlement ‘Palmares’ in the Northeast of Brazil during the 1600s. Palmares Fantasy is Khan’s utopian jazz message for the world, and features Azymuth drummer Ivan 'Mamão' Conti, bassist Paulo Russo, guitarist Jim Mullen, and guest vocals from Brazilian chanteuse Sabrina Malheiros, and Cinematic Orchestra frontwoman Heidi Vogel.