Paul Clarvis

About

Paul Clarvis is an English percussionist, born in Enfield, London, on 9 April 1963.

Paul brings his unique style of musicianship to many genres and as one of the most requested session musicians. Paul was the late Leonard Bernstein's preferred percussionist in London and featured as a soloist on the last night of the Proms in 1996 in a concerto for saxophone and drum kit by Sir Harrison Birtwhistle. In 1998 he was chairman of the Percussion judges for the BBC Young Musician of the Year and together with Sonia Slany he started Villagelife Records.

Paul also helped Rick Smith with the drum arrangement for the London Olympics 2012 opening, writing Dame Evelyn Glennie's part and together with Rick, devised how to train the 1000 drummers that stole the show on that opening ceremony!

Bands

The list of people Paul has worked with is a veritable 'who's who' in the music world - from Mick Jagger, Nina Simone, Stevie Wonder, Steve Swallow, Sir Harrison Birtwhistle, Sir John Dankworth to Sir Paul McCartney, John Taylor and Moondog, Gordon Beck, Brian Ferry and Elton John. He has recorded with Marc Ribot, Sam Rivers, Richard Thompson, The Orb, John Adams, Michael Nyman, Loreena McKennitt, Mark Anthony Turnage and Michel Legrand as well as his own band Orquestra Mahatma.

He regularly holds gigs with Mose Allison and has also played with Nina Simone, Herbie Hancock and Ravi Shankar.

Film

Paul's playing can be heard on literally hundreds of films including Star Wars, all the Harry Potter films, all the Narnia films, all the Twilight films, the Dark Knight, the Constant Gardner, The Bourne Ultimatum, Burn After Reading, Shakespeare in Love, Fantastic Mr Fox, Billy Elliot, James Bond, Robin Hood, G.I Jane, Notting Hill, Tron, The Mummy, The Golden Compass, Bee Movie, Troy, State of Play, The Road, The Last King of Scotland, Spy Game, Elizabeth: The Golden Age, The Escapist, Captain America, Shrek, Hugo Cabret, Kung Fu Panda, and the Lord of the Rings, Prometheus, the Hobbit, Skyfall, Spectre, The Great Gatsby, to name just a few!

Paul had also worked on; Quills (band member: The Quills Specialist Band), The Cell (first percussion), The Miracle Maker (ethnic percussion), The Next Best Thing (percussion), The Darkest Light (percussion), Beautiful People (percussion), East Is East (drums and percussion), Heart (percussion), Beloved (featured musician), The Mighty (percussion), My Son the Fanatic (musician) and many more.