PolJam-x ft Rj Samuels + Band in Belfast, NI

SEEKING

ABOUT

Rj Samuels recounts his love affair with music which began in 1979 when heard CHIC’s Savoir Fair. He said that the composition, the musicianship and the overall sound took his breath away. From that moment onwards his passion for music developed and blossomed.
After a numbers of trips to the studio with a variety of projects, Samuels vowed he would never let the music consume his everyday life.
He saw the negative side of the industry and did not want any part of it and promised himself he would only do it for fun. The great, late Bernard Edwards, of CHIC, inspired Samuels to pick up the Bass Guitar. But it was only with the advent of the MIDI standard that his writing really took off. He had an analogue Areo Pro Bass Guitar to begin with and quickly acquired a Casio keyboard.
His love of theatre would also play a big part in his future collaborations, having appeared on the UK soap Coronation Street, not once, but twice; the XYY Man and both the Contact Theatre and Oakgrove Integrated College, the latter two being musicals. Samuels felt the need to replace his Casio for something more professional, because of a failed audition with one of the Simply Red Guitarists. Samuels began to have fun with his music and developed an eye for arranging classical music from composers such as Satie.
Rj began to listen to the likes of Kate Bush, Narada Michael Walden, ABBA as well as everything CHIC produced or even were associated with. By his own admission, Samuels never believed he had a vocal talent so he had to try and convey what he had in his head to a cast of singers.
In the early days he wanted to emulate that CHIC sound, but he soon realised that there is only One CHIC! Samuels soon developed his own sound and it took the form of smooth Jazz, inspired by the likes of Weather Report, Spira Gira and Basia. He liked the way the mixture of traditional instruments layered into a heady mix of seventh chords and exotic arrangements.
Rj’s first recording was in a studio in Manchester with his high school. It was with a group which included Nicholas Onigbanjo, whose band charted in 1987 with Seal’s “Fly like an Eagle” and Tony Hull. Samuels has always had a desire to dabble in other music styles like rock, Dance and New Age, so he has an alter ego band called PolJam-x. If you ever hear anything by this outfit, Rj Samuels will be at the heart of it.

We now have a radio and tv station, tune in at EMM-radio.playtheradio.

If you would like your tracks played on a European radio station, drop me a line with your details.

Screen name:

poljam-x

Member since:

Aug 23 2010

Active over 1 month ago

Level of commitment:

Touring

Years together:

10

Gigs played:

Over 100

Age:

61 years

Influences

Chic, Weather Report, Spyro-Gyra, Paramore, The Powerstation, Jimmy Jam & Terry Lewis, The Distance

Members Of Band

Rj Samuels, Friday McAllister, Celenka, Ailish Mccafferty Dayna Shannon, Ellis Manhattan

EQUIPMENT

Cubase 5, Pro Tools 10:- Various Yamaha Keyboards, Acoustic Guitar, Midi-Guitar, Midi-Drum Kit

Tv and Radio broadcasting.

MUSIC

CALENDAR

Past Events