Dave Shulman BMus LRAM - clarinet & saxophone

Dave Shulman, who leads the band on clarinet and saxophone, grew up in a Klezmer playing family, joining his parents on stage with the Freylich Spielers from an early age. Since then he has studied Klezmer with Merlin Shepherd, Ilana Cravitz, and Deborah Strauss, and has attended master classes from the New York based band The Klezmatics.

He graduated from the Royal Academy of Music with a First in Performance, and was winner of the Craig Ball Award.

He spent several years with the National Youth Jazz Orchestra, and now plays with fusion bands Sonic Mutation and Collage.

Deborah Gruman BMus LRAM - violin

Deborah Gruman comes from Toulouse in France where she started the violin at the age of 6. She recently graduated from the Classical Bachelor of Music programme at the Royal Academy with first class honours and her musical experience also extends to the fields of early music, jazz and contemporary improvisation. She has been awarded prizes in several international competitions including the B'nai Brith competition in Geneva.

Tom Farmer - bass

Tom Farmer played with the National Youth Jazz Orchestra for three years before joining the Shlepping Mishpacha. He also plays with The Heritage Orchestra which recently appeared at the Montreux jazz festival and who’s forth coming album will shortly be released on Giles Peterson’s record label. Other artists he has recorded with include pianist Andrew Fisher for 33 jazz records as well as saxophonist Kelvin Cristiane on the KC music label.

Nina Lejderman - vocals

Klezmer music and Yiddish songs lay very close to heart for Nina. Before joining the Shlepping Mishpacha she sang with the Stockholm Klezmer Quintet which performed at the Jewish Cultural Festival in Crakow as well as the 'Nina Gates' Festival in Prague. She has also worked with the klezmer band Shekoyokh.

Nina has been a soloist with the Stockholm Youth Symphony Orchestra, sung with Opera de Bauge and has given solo recitals and oratorio performances around England and Sweden.

John Blease BMus LRAM - drums

John Blease grew up on the west coast of scotland playing professionally from an early age in ceilidh bands and jazz ensembles. In 2005, he graduated from the Royal Academy of Music where he studied drums and world percussion with Dave Hassell, Paul Clarvis and Dawson Miller.

John has worked with a vast array of amazing bands and musicians including Julian Arguelles, Jacqui Dankworth, Evelyn Glennie, Tommy Smith, Supertramp, Mose Allison, Hue and Cry and the Scottish National Jazz Orchestra. He has recently toured with Gilad Atzmons Orient House Ensemble as well as writing and performing for dance producers Mish Mash alongside Ministry of Sound.

Ivo Neame Bmus LRAM - piano

Since graduating from the Jazz course at the Royal Academy, Ivo has appeared at most of the major London jazz venues including Ronnie Scott's, Pizza Express Dean Street, and the 606 Club as well as touring countries as diverse as Sardinia, Croatia, the Philippines and Argentina with a vast array of fine bands and musicians including Tim Garland's Dean Street Underground Orchestra, Giles Peterson's Two Banks Of Four, Seb Rochford and Pete Wareham’s Acoustic Ladyland, Gerard Presencer, Stan Sulzmann, Alec Dankworth and Gene Calderazzo. His group Oboto fuses jazz based grooves with Latin American and African influences.