One of the world’s leading beatboxers, Shlomo has worked for years to push the boundaries of beatboxing as an art form.
Björk
In August 2004, Shlomo was invited by Icelandic singer Björk to beatbox on her all-vocal album Medulla. The track, Oceania, was composed as a commission by the Olympic Games Committee, and was performed at the Opening Ceremony in Athens. An estimated audience of 4.5 billion viewers saw this performance, making Shlomo the most heard beatboxer in history (although most would not have realised that the drum sounds were vocal).
Shlomo then went on to tour the UK, Europe and Canada with London Hip Hop act Foreign Beggars, before making a solo appearance on Later… with Jools Holland in late 2005.
Recently Shlomo has pushed the boundaries of beatboxing with his live performances which feature him beatboxing and drumming at the same time, plus expanding his set with original material performed using a loop sampler.
The Beatbox Choir
2007 marked the creation of ‘Shlomo and the Vocal Orchestra’, the human beatbox choir.
Colette McWilliams’s feature documentary ‘The Beatbox Choir’ follows the story of the choir over the six weeks from their first meeting up until their headline performance at the International Beatbox Convention in London.
The choir went on to perform to 15,000 people at the Big Chill Festival in August 2007, and have big plans for concerts, recordings, and collaborations in 2008.
Artist in Residence
In 2007, Shlomo was appointed as Artist in Residence at the Southbank Centre, where he is currently running a concert series called ‘Music Through Unconventional Means’. So far the series has featured collaborations with Martha Wainwright, DJ Yoda and Seb Rochford, to name a few.
More
For more on Shlomo, check out his Wikipedia bio.