Konstantin Klashtorni This versatile and experienced saxophonist who has toured and performed throughout Europe and South America commenced his education at Kiev State Music College in the Ukraine and received his Masters Degree in Music from the Rotterdam Royal Conservatory in Holland. With an emphasis that was initially on the classical his horizons were widened by the snippets of Sony Rollins and Charlie Parker that he heard from his college tutors. However Konstantin began to discover a parallel world of jazz when he was introduced to the work of David Sanborn, Eric Marienthal, Al Jarreau and George Benson. He bundled all these influences and more into his repertoire and after graduating from college started to put them to good use with a place in Peter Pashkov's Vuyko Band where he ran the full gamut between hard bop and cool jazz. Seeking to further enrich his musical upbringing Konstantin traveled to Venezuela in 1995 where he explored and incorporated Latin American rhythms and styles into his work. Here, for five years, he worked with a whole range of bands and toured with such Latin luminaries as Soledad Bravo, Biella Da Costa, Ilan Chester, Gilberto Santa Rosa, Franco De Vita and Oscar D'Leon. It was while with the Biella Da Costa band that Konstantin played at the 1996 Montreaux Jazz Festival in Switzerland and, in addition, was part of numerous musical projects for top ranking artists including Dionne Warwick and Eric Marienthal. Fast forwarding to the year 2000 and Konstantin, by now back in Holland, was rapidly developing contacts with musicians that included Gerardo Rosales, Izaline Calister, Randal Corsen, Michael Simon, Fra-Fra Big Band, Cubop City Big Band and latterly Ruth Jacott. Just as significant was the association he was cultivating with Nightstage Records. This partnership was responsible for the ‘Downtown’ project that started out life as a demo disc and evolved into his first CD release. In the same way that he had first been intrigued by Sanborn and Benson, the production techniques being employed in the USA by Paul Brown and Brian Culbertson started to consume him too. With ‘Led By You’ and supported by a glistening array of Dutch musicians he has began to emulate these smooth jazz production techniques with an end product that is sure to capture the imagination of the smooth jazz listening public. Website: http://www.konstantinklashtorni.com CD's: Konstantin Klashtorni - Led by you »»»