Barak Schmool

Biography

Barak Schmool studied saxophone and composition at the Royal Academy of Music. At the age of 20, illness prevented Barak from practising saxophone for six months which led to his picking up percussion, eventually specialising in West African drumming and Latin percussion. Since then Barak has worked with Artists such as Bosco De Oliveira, Nana Tsiboe, Robert Mitchell and Hilaire Penda, as well as a long association with Django Bates’ Big Band, Delightful Precipice.

Barak has also founded a number of different projects, each with unique stylistic and world influences. These include the Afro-rhythmic groupTimeline, the Cuban batá-fusion of Méta Méta, and the integrated dance performance of Synergy and Roots of Unity. Barak is also the founder of F-IRE (Fellowship for Integrated Rhythmic Expression); part record label and part educational initiative, encompassing a wide variety of genres within and beyond the scope of jazz. F-IRE was awarded the 2004 BBC Jazz Award for Innovation, and all of the musicians nominated in the ‘Rising Stars’ category were members of F-IRE.

Barak is also a regular teacher at the Royal Academy of Music and City University.