Born and raised in a community ( New York ) known for producing the very best international artist 

one  of the finest saxophonist from the Big Apple has an unceasing hunger to bring the most soothing soulful sound to the saxophone realm . 


Mainly  studying under Bill Ellington ( Nephew of Duke Ellington )  and John Percel  . Then moving on to a brief   partnership with the music major program at Cheyney  state collage in pennsylvania .  Realizing his foundation was solidly formed Koran joined forces with friends he grew up with in the internationally known group   " ATLANTIC STARR "        Atlantic Starr picture 8

Atlantic Starr picture 1Atlantic Starr picture 2

 to complete his professional status . 

              

Active with Atlantic Starr ( A&M records ) Koran also recorded with such well know names as  THE TEMPTATIONS  ,LONNIE LISTON SMITH  and DR SUN RA   as a section player as well as a soloist .


Later as time passed he began to find his range of expression . To further  its width a temporary  break away from the group was needed to connect with NORMAN CONNORS  trumpeter DUKE JONES  .  Trumpeter Duke Jones  an original member of  the group before it became Atlantic Starr  was in good form . Taking a very finely tuned group on tour to asia , Duke brought Koran on board  for the trek to the east .  


As well as experiencing a new culture  ( Japan )  Koran `s prime directive was to learn and incorperate the Jazz form Be Bop  into his already solid R&B skills .

 

 Joining forces now within the asian music industry he could see the market was not as competitive as the american market.   However , he quickly realized Japan has a selective amount of Artist on the same level as american artist .  Without  trying to search them out one of there best found him,  in the form of  the great Japanese blues artist  MASAKI UEDA  ( photo above )  .            Being that Blues is so close to R&B the professional relationship between Masaki and himself quickly materialized into a longtime friendship . Working together as much as there individual schedules will permit them to . 


Also Joining  up  with other Tokyo based Japanese star`s such as    NANASE AIKAWA , OGURO MAKI , and LYRICO .  Names unknown to the west but quite hot in the Asian music industry .  


Experiencing the east with more vocabulary he rejoins forces with his old time friends ATLANTIC STARR when they  bring there tour to asia.  


Performing  high  profile concerts in Japan with the likes of  BOBBY WATSON (original bassist from CHAKA KAHN ) , TOMMY CAMPBELL , PAUL JACKSON ( origianl bassist from HERBIE HANCOCK ) and others such as Jazz great STAN GILBERT   and TOM PIERSON , pop artist  such as SWING OUT SISTER , r&b artist  JANET KAYE and DIANA KING and the Huge reggae  household name   SLY & ROBBIE  ( photo below ) .  


He hand picked a  specially formed Smooth Jazz quartet  to perform for the  grand opening at the BILLBOARD LIVE in Tokyo and has graced other venues such as the OSAKA BLUE NOTE and the COTTON CLUB. in  tokyo .


He takes a humble yet powerful  position as a smooth saxophonist blending R&B and Be Bop Jazz together to win the hearts and souls of  both the younger generation and the mature old school audience . As he musically lives  by the familiar Duke Ellington phrase in one of his songs :  


"It sure aint that thing if  it aint  got that swing" . 






Mp3 `s  below  




https://saxmanko.tripod.com/webonmediacontents/1426883.mp3|



https://saxmanko.tripod.com/webonmediacontents/1426983.mp3|