TRombone
Arjuna Satchithananthan is a graduate of the University of Toronto's prestigious Jazz Studies Program, completing his Undergraduate degree there in 2005 and most recently his Masters in 2011 both in trombone performance. During his time there he studied with some of the leading figures in the Canadian jazz world, including Mike Murley, Kirk Macdonald, Terry Promane, David Braid, Brian Dickinson and many others.
Since completing his undergraduate degree, Arjuna has been in demand as a trombonist in a variety of styles and venues. In the jazz world, Arjuna has performed with a variety of groups in the city, from big bands (Bruce Cassidy's Hotfoot Orchestra, Gary Morgan's Panamericana Big Band, the John Cheeseman Jazz Orchestra) to smaller groups (Ryan Oliver Sextet, Paul Morrison Quintet) and trad/dixieland bands (Tyler Yarema, Big Rude Jake, Red Hot Ramble). Most notably, he was selected as the youngest member to perform as part of Jazz FM 91's 2006 celebration of the trombone entitled “Let it Slide”. From 2006 to 2009 Arjuna was the co-leader of an original Neo-Soul/Jazz project called “MINT” that was featured on the CBC radio program “Big City Small World” with a live to air performance and interview. MINT was also selected to be the house band (with Arjuna acting as musical director) for a portion of CBC's annual “Sounds of the Season” charity broadcast.
Arjuna is also active in the R&B and Hip-Hop scene as well, being a core member of Juno award winning singer Jully Black's touring band from 2007-2009, with his most notable performance being the closing act of the 2008 Juno awards. Additionally he has performed and recorded with Canadian hip-hop legends Kardinal Offishall and K-OS. A particular highlight was being asked to perform with the “Soul Generals” (the late James Brown's backing band) as part of the LuminaTO Funk Festival in 2008. Arjuna has also performed or recorded with many other notable artists, including Matt Dusk, Luke McMaster, Stephen Page, Sarah Slean, Sean Desman, Keisha Chante and many others.
BASS
RJ is a self-taught electric bassist who decided to pick up the instrument in his mid-twenties as an experiment and within a year found himself playing professionally. This early work included performing in the pit band for a number of musical productions (Guys and Dolls, Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, Jesus Christ Superstar among many others) and touring Canada as the bassist for Juno nominated reggae artist Jason Wilson (shows included the Vancouver Island Folk Festival, the Calgary Folk Festival and Stanfest in Nova Scotia).
He is currently engaged as the bassist for a variety of original projects (Yuka, Bard From The Club, Grannis Bea) and is also highly in demand in the cover-band circuit, having performed around the GTA with groups such as The Digs, Pug Tony, The St. Royals and The Dirty Little Swing Thing.
Most notably he is the bassist for the Arabic/Roma/Fusion band Nomadica co-led by Juno award winning artist David Buchbinder, and is featured on their most recent recording “Dance of the Infidels”.