Raymond Hardy

Raymond is a composer and saxophonist, he is one half of the post-fusion group Astrakan. Raymond is the saxophonist for the soul, groove and funk band The Groove Primitive. 

Find and listen to Astrakan here:

https://www.facebook.com/astrakanband/

https://open.spotify.com/artist/077whxnlIFOx7f6fPl1nys?si=-3ZNBOD7SSm-XlyI22FP4A

https://twitter.com/astrakan6

https://astrakan1.bandcamp.com for CDs

Astrakan Biog:

Astrakan are London composers and performers Celia Lu and Raymond Hardy. They are graduates from the masters course in composition at Goldsmith's College (University of London). 

Celia and Raymond have shared interests in contemporary music. Raymond has been busy for a long time in the jazz field as a saxophonist while Celia has a more formal classical background as a vocalist and pianist. Their combined efforts as Astrakan produce a music that might loosely be considered to belong to the world of jazz fusion. However this is a new fusion or post-fusion, a nascent music that reflects the vitality of their city in all of its absurd contradictions and anomalies. It is a free-flowing amalgam of jazz, funk and digital electronics that has found a home in the experimental underground. 

Over twenty years the band Astrakan has released five records with an ever changing personnel. Raymond was an original member in 2004, Celia joined for the recording of the Comets and Monsters album in 2012. Celia and Raymond as a duo composed, recorded and produced the most recent albums 'Pandora's Broken Unicorn' (2020) and 'Crab Weather' (2023). Listen to Astrakan if you favour "unusual rhythmic configurations, spine-tingling jazz harmonics mixing with delicious dissonances, impressive musicianship and striking female vocals (Trust the Doc).

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