Janet Sherbourne — Piano, musical director, arranger

Janet studied piano with Kathleen Williams and later with Norman Beedie at the Guildhall School of Music. She studied music at York University and Ethnomusicology at Queen's University Belfast. She has performed in and composed for contemporary music ensembles, gamelan groups (English Gamelan Orchestra and Metalworks New Gamelan) and the pop group The Copy. She has had commissions for music for contemporary dance, and her compositions have won awards.  As well as leading Cafecito, she plays in mainstream and modern jazz groups, and her Latin library album Strictly Latin on Poke Records has featured in TV adverts. For more information about Janet go to her personal website where you can also download free copies of some of the scores from the Cafecito CD El Gato.

Jan Steele — Flute

Jan studied flute at school with Paul Griffiths, then privately with Averil Williams at the Guildhall School of Music for 5 years. He studied music at York University. Jan leads a busy life as a performer in mainstream and modern jazz, leading his own jazz quartet and a salsa/Latin jazz group Jan y su Salsa, and performing on the UK Asian pop music scene. As a composer his works have been released in the UK, France, Japan and the US. Besides performing he teaches the flute and saxophone and teaches the Alexander Technique at the Royal Academy of Music in London. His album Distant Saxophones is scheduled for release on the Community Library label.

Dunia Correa — Lead Vocal

Nathaniel Steele — Timbales

Nathaniel was a chorister in New College Choir, Oxford, and plays jazz drums and vibraphone. He plays in the salsa bands Jan y su Salsa (for which he has arranged much of the repertoire) and Cosa Latina. He studied Latin percussion with Enrique Pla of Cuba's Irakere group, and with Jose Eladio on two extended study trips to Cuba. As a drummer he has played with many top UK bebop musicians, including Steve Fishwick, Alex Garnett, Dave Newton and Allison Neale. He has a vibraphone quartet with Leon Greening on piano, brother Luke Steele on double bass, and international drummer Steve Brown, which performs regularly in the Late Show at Ronnie Scott's jazz club. His other band, Potrait of the Modern Jazz Quartet, has attracted rave reviews. For more information about Nat, go to his personal website.

Luke Steele — Double bass

Luke studied on the jazz course at the Guildhall School of Music, with teachers including Simon Woolf, Steve Watts and Dave Chamberlain. As well as playing both charanga and salsa, Luke is heavily involved in the jazz (especially be-bop) scene and the long list of top names he has worked with include Scott Hamilton, Leon Greening, Jim Mullen, Craig Milverton, Steve Fishwick, Mike Gorman and Bobby Wellins. He can frequently be seen playing in his brother Nat's quartet in the Late Show at Ronnie Scott's.

Alejandro Martinez — Congas

Jim Le Messurier — Bongos/guiro

Jim is a Latin percussionist and composer with considerable experience in London’s music scene, having led successful salsa band, Orquesta La Clave and more recently performing with rumba collective Dilanga, colombian folkloric group Papayera, and playing bata drums with the London Lucumi Choir. He is a key member of Penya, a latin-fusion band based in London. Born in Guernsey, Jim has studied his art extensively in the U.S.A, Cuba and Latin America and performed with many salsa greats including Lalo Rodriguez, Tony Vega, Camilo Azuquita, Tito Allen and Luisito Carrion.

Roberts Balanas — Violin  View website

Latvian violinist Roberts Balanas made his solo debut at London’s Royal Festival Hall and Wigmore Hall in 2013 and has performed extensively across the UK, Europe and Asia ever since. He has participated in numerous music festivals including the International Chamber Music Festival Stavanger, Aurora Chamber Music Festival, ProQuartet festival and Halesworth Festival amongst others. His musical collaborations include eminent artists such as Semyon Bychkov, Sir Mark Elder, Edward Gardner and Marin Alsop.

Click to go back to our home page to carry on reading about Live Latin Band Cafecito.