Roda de Samba de Raiz

Roda de Samba de Raiz was started out of necessity in 2019, as there was nowhere in London to hear real roots Samba. Marcos Santana (Olodum, Carlinos Brown) formed the weekly event with musical director Aleh Ferreira (who has worked with Seu Jorge, Ed Motta and Ana Carolina) by drawing together the best Samba musicians in London.  

The project Turns has developed alongside Marcos, brings x3 samba masters to the UK from music organisations in Brazil who are true representatives of Samba music, part of it’s history and key figures in leading inner city music outreach projects. These individuals include Mestre Memeu - Master percussionist from Olodum, Silvia Duffrayer part of "Samba Que Elas Querem" and Adriana Portela who is the first all female samba-reggae band founder and has played with legends like Caetano Veloso and Gal Costa. Musicians will perform at Roda de Samba events (alongside the 9 piece band), conduct workshops for music students and give talks.

As well as securing £20k funding for this project, Turns also secured gigs at Grow and Jumbi for the Roda de Samba band, as well as helping to produce a music video by working with Laurie Lynch (Ridley Scott Associates).

Accidental Meetings

Turns Agency worked with Accidental Meetings helping them develop a new project with Nyege Nyege, the leading African experimental music institution and driving force behind the continent's most exciting releases, festival and residencies. The project included residencies in Bristol – pairing UK and African artists to create three new commissions. Project funding also covered events, live radio sessions, short films and educational workshops - all developed in consultation with partners in Bristol’s grassroots music scene. Through ACE, we managed to secure £27k for the project.

Margins United is a celebration of alternative East & Southeast Asian culture. This festival will tell stories which represent the diversity of narratives across E&SE Asia and its diaspora. Hosted at London’s historic venue, EartH, the festival will run day and night, showcasing breakthrough acts through live, DJ performances and immersive art experiences. Turns worked with Eastern Margins from the festival's conception, helping to shape the project components and budget, develop their partnership plan and secure £27k through ACE to support the festival. 

Dur Dur Band

This project reunites members of Dur Dur Band living in Somalia, Ethiopia and across Europe, with the core band in the UK, as well as highly renowned younger Somali musicians, for a performance in Barbicans main Hall. The project will transform the group’s sound and create a new live show through a partnership with Bristol Electronic Instrument Maker UDO, and female-led Mogadishu arts SAF. Turns booked the show, secured the UDO sponsorship, and is leading the production and musical direction.  

Erooms

FutureSounds is a development programme for 40 young aspiring musicians and 8 sound engineers from Skelmersdale who have grown up deprived of opportunities. The 12-week programme will form 8 new bands and engineers, linking them from week 1 of a programme that features industry workshops, guided rehearsals, tuition, demo recording, showcase gigs at E-rooms, video and photo shoots, and paid gigs at venues in Wigan, Liverpool and the 5000-cap festival, Skem Fest. The project will result in 8 professionally developed new youth bands – across a diversity of genres including rock, pop, reggae, doom metal, and electronic, along with 8 sound engineers, who will have been given the skills and confidence to take their first steps in the music industry. Ultimately, the goal is to inspire young people and improve their motivation and confidence to pursue music as a career.

Turns worked closely with Erooms to develop the initial project ideas and build the vision and roadmap for the projects creation. This involved helping Erooms develop meaningful local partnerships and their diversity & inclusion strategy, as well as working with them to build the budget, cash flow, project timeline and other parts of the project’s strategy. This resulted in Turns writing and submitting an application that secured £38k funding via ACE.

The Trumpet

The Trumpet jazz venue was opened in the late 50’s. Famous local musicians like Tommy Burton started jazz jam sessions at the venue and the reputation of the venue gained momentum as artists formed a community built on lively jam sessions and a relaxed environment. Covid sadly saw them lose many of their older musicians and loyal music customers who were pillars of their community, which meant the venue was at a real risk of closing down. 

Turns helped The Trumpet to secure £30k grant funding, creating a project with them that built partnerships with local schools and community music organisations. Guiding the programming and educational aspects of the project, we were able to help them to build new audiences for the venue, across an ambitious programme of x35 funded shows and workshops. We are now working with them to create a CIC and run further funded programmes within the Bilston community.  

Sambroso Sambroso

Cuban promoter Sambroso Sambroso is run by the percussionist Oreste Noda, known for his work with with Ibrahim Ferrer, Hugh Masekela, Jazz Jamaica All Stars, Cubafrobeat and Ariwo. 

Working with Noda, Turns shaped a project and secured £28k funding to create a new 10-piece Cuban salsa orchestra for his popular night at Juju’s. The band connects London’s top Cuban/Latin musicians with the most famous Cuban singers living across Europe/Cuba like Alexander Abreu (Havana D’Primera), the biggest living name in Cuban Salsa for a run of 8 events. The band will be led by Hammadi Valdes (Chucho Valdes, Carlos Acosta, London Philharmonic Orchestra) with original compositions from top composers inside Cuba. The project also delivers a mentorship programme to support exceptionally gifted Cuban/Latin musicians who have recently moved to the UK/Europe.

Start Small Studios

Engineer Training Programme

Turns collaborated closely with Start Small Studios to develop, write, and submit an application that successfully secured £28k in funding. This funding will support the launch of a training and apprenticeship program aimed at helping young music creatives retrain as recording engineers. The programme is aimed at 18-24 yo’s who come from low-income households and aren’t able to pay high fees for colleges like SAE or Point Blank. Turns helped develop partnership plans with software companies and top commercial studios, who provided free software and guaranteed work placements for all trainees.