Biography

Gilda Razani is a german-iranian theremin musician, composer and music producer.

The Beginnings 

Gilda Razani completed a saxophone master class with Sigurd Rascher in Berlin at the Academy of Arts in 1994 and her saxophone studies with a master’s degree in 1997 at the Detmold University of Music. 
From 2010 to 2016 she learned to play the theremin from Lidija Kawina and Carolina Eyck. 
Gilda Razani plays on an Etherwave Pro and a Claravox Centennial Theremin from Moog Music.

Solo Activities

In 1992 she performed as a saxophone soloist under the direction of Karlheinz Stockhausen with Simon Stockhausen in his work Sternenklang and she gave concerts  in 2005 with the Sicilian Jazz Orchestra with her own saxophone compositions in Palermo/Italy. In 2006, Razani appeared on television shows such as The Harald Schmidt Show with the Helmut Zerlett Band and she gave concerts in 2008 with the ‚International Peace Band‘ with Trilok Gurtu, John Lee, Wolfgang Lackerschmid and Roy Assaf . In 2012, Razani played the saxophone part in the Threepenny Opera under the direction of Paul Wallfisch at the theatre Dortmund  and she played the virtuoso theremin part in the opera La Finta Giardiniera in 2018, directed by Marc Johnson at the Baden-Baden theatre. She performed at the Altmark Festival in 2020, where she played the world premiere of the theremin work Selma by Reinhard Seehafer with members of the Staatskapelle Weimar. In 2022 she played the theremin part of the piece Twilight Zone / Twilight Tone on the grammynominated album Fifty by the American vocal group The Manhattan Transfer with the WDR Funkhausorchestra Cologne, arranged by Vince Mendoza. Razani performed as a theremin soloist at the concert house  Dortmund in 2023 with the Star Trek film music and orchestra.

Activities with her own Bands

Razani has performed throughout Europe, including Lithuania, Estonia, Great Britain, Italy, Romania, Russia and the United States. She has played at festivals such as the Afterhills Festival (Romania), Fusion Festival (Germany), Les Digitales (Switzerland), Jazzprovince Festival (Russia) and the Leverkusener Jazztage (Germany).
Gilda Razani has been working with piano player, composer and keyboarder Hanzō Wanning in all her own bands since 2001. 
The duo Gilda Razani/Hanzō Wanning published the recordings ‚Duo Live‘ with their own chamber music and improvising works and became the Gilda Razani Group in 2002. The quintet with, among others, Rhani Kriija, percussion and Hans Steinmeier guitar, played their own modern jazz compositions. 
Razani founded Gilda Razani & Sub.vision in 2003, for which she composed the three albums ‚Bazaar‘, ‚Remembrance‘ and ‚Nashira‘. The music can be classified as jazz with elements of world music. Razani used the instruments saxophone and flute and recorded her albums with changing line-ups. Band members have included Thomas Alkier on drums, Bruno Speight on electric guitar, Martin Furmann on bass, Oliver Siegel on synthesizer and Benny Mokross on percussion. In 2008 they were awarded the RWE Artist Award for the production of the recording Remembrance. Benny Mokross described the Subvision Italy tour in his 2021 book, …but you can’t park here! 
The formation About Aphrodite emerged from Sub.vision in 2014, for which Razani composed the four albums ‚Ocean Lily‘, ‚Factor X‘, ‚Polaris‘ and ‚Future Memories‘. The music can be categorized between jazz, rock music and electronic music and she worked with guests such as Djamel Laroussi vocals/guitar and Fethi Ak percussion. In this band, Razani used the theremin, the saxophone, the pipe from Somasynths and the aerophone. In 2018, they were joined by drummer Jaime Moraga Vasquez, who played on the album Future Memories. In 2018, Razani arranged her works from the album Polaris for string quartet and band. The Duisburg Philharmonic Orchestra took part in the concerts. 
Razani and Wanning founded the formation Honey Bizarre in 2023, whose music can be classified as electronic music by also using acoustic instruments like the piano. Razani uses the theremin, soprano saxophone and the pipe from Somasynths, among other instruments. Honey Bizarre works together with the video artist Mario Simon, with whom they developed the Iran project Honey Bizarre – Shirin Again in 2023. They published the album ‚Little Deep Miss Strange‘ and the singles ‚Amaryllis‘, ‚Desert Rose‘ and ‚Cuyolita‘.
Razani founded the Theremin Piano Duo Amaryllis in 2024 with a program of theremin classics and jazz standards.

Other Activities 

From 2003 to 2009, Gilda Razani played soprano saxophone in the large-scale world music formation Transorient Orchestra and contributed to the albums Karadeniz 2005 and Live im Katakomben Theater 2009. Around Razani founded 2005 the formation of the international women’s band Hikary with Natsuko Inada, piano, Japan, Alexandra Gerhard-García, drums, Venezuela, Patty Stucky, vocals/electronics, Switzerland and Bettina Hagemann, violin/bass, Germany with their own compositions in the field of jazz and rock music. They have performed several times in Italy, including at the first European women’s festival in Modena/Italy in 2006 and in Rome and Frascati/Italy in 2009. Since 2006, Razani has been part of the large-scale crossover formation The Dorf, with whom she recorded several albums like ‚Protest Possible‘,’The Dorf/Phil Niblock‘, and ‚Evil –  featuring FM Einheit and Caspar Brötzmann‘ and won the Ruhr Jazz Prize in 2013 and the WDR Jazz Prize in 2020.  She contributed her own theremin compositions to the album Modular Session 15 – ‚The Battle of the Robots‘ and Modular Sessions 7 – ‚Les Femmes Electronique‘ by Mark Jenkins/London in 2022.  From 2014 to 2019 she was a lecturer for saxophone and theremin at the Technical University of Dortmund, has been producing radio play music and film music for West German Broadcasting Cologne and ARD since 2015 and founded the sound branding agency Honeysounds in 2023.

Catalog of Works (Selection)

Albums

with Duo Razani/ Wanning
*2002: Duo live (Munichrecords) 

with Gilda Razani & Sub.vision 
*2005: Bazaar (Traumton Records)
*2009: Remembrance (Timelinerecords)
*2012: Nashira (ESC Records)

with About Aphrodite
*2014: Ocean Lily (Aztek Electronic Music)
*2015: Factor X (Aztek Electronic Music)
*2018: Polaris (Floating World Records)
*2020: Future Memories (Floating World Records)

with Manhattan Transfer
*2022: Fifty – Manhattan Transfer/ WDR Funkhausorchestra Cologne (Craft Recordings) 

with Honey Bizarre
*2024: Little Deep Miss Strange (Floating World Records)

Singles 

with Honey Bizarre
*2024: Amaryllis (RosenundPralinen Records) 
*2024: Desert Rose (RosenundPralinen Records)
*2024: Cuyolita (RosenundPralinen Records)

Radioplay music
*2018: Mit Volldampf durch die Wüste, WDR KiRaKa
*2019: Anne und die Bankräuber, WDR KiRaKa
*2020: Der Weihnachtsmann-Auflauf, WDR KiRaKa
*2021: Marie Ka Ih – Schluss mit Gurkensalat, WDR KiRaKa
*2023: Florentine Blix – Tatort der Kuscheltiere, part one and part two,  WDR KiRaKa
*2024: Florentine Blix – Geheimakte Flaschenpost, part one and part two, WDR KIRaKA

Film music
*2015: #weltuntergang: Der Sommer, der ins Wasser fiel, Regie Christian Dassel, Clemens Gersch *2015: .#jesuischarlie:Ein Hashtag und die Folgen
*2015: #fluechtlinge – was sind wir für ein Land
*2015: #germanwings – die Katastrophe. Rückblick und Gedenken 
*2016: #land_unter – Der Unwetter-Sommer
*2016: #monsterstau – Stillstand ist unser Leben!
*2017: #koelnhbf – die silvesternacht und ihre Folgen
*2017: schrecklichschön: weihnachten
*2017: schrecklichschön: geschenke, geschenke
*2017: Die schönsten Mausmomente
*2018: Die Wunde meiner Stadt – Asli, Duisburg und die Loveparade,
*2018: #jahrhundertsommer – Sonne satt und Schattenseiten 

Reviews

Little Deep Miss Strange

Musikansich
Gilda Razani also plays the theremin in the ‚classical‘ sense, but one often thinks of electric guitar sounds that one would not expect from this instrument. Yet she is an incredible virtuoso on this instrument. The theremin is often only known as background music, but in Gilda Razani’s hands the instrument is awakened from its slumber. She shows that there is much more to the instrument and does so with a naturalness that is fascinating. Little Deep Miss Strange is a great album that we wish many listeners. Gilda Razani and Hanzō Wanning are also more than convincing under their new band name Honey Bizarre. Excellent from front to back and therefore highly recommended! (20/20)

Fazemag
The duo draws on a colourful array of instruments and live equipment, served by outstanding improvisation skills and a fine feel for „music for dancing and dreaming“.

Musikreviews
If musical comparisons had to be made, then bands such as TANGERINE DREAM or PINK FLOYD would be suitable references. Because like these two heavyweights, HONEY BIZARRE also know how to create a variety of moods with supposedly calm music.

Coolibri
The duo delivers sounds that you can dance to with your eyes closed in the strobe light, or alternatively meditate to. It’s psychedelic, mystical, tinkling, a little eerie or even relaxing and beautiful.

O-Tone
The music unfolds a hypnotic, even psychedelic effect, carries you into another orbit. Neither Pink Floyd nor Genesis have managed that!

Ragmag Music Online Magazine Las Vegas/ USA
This is clearly made by people who have a pure love for their craft and sit at it until it becomes something almost fantastic, which these songs are. The musicianship here is perfect and the ear for mixing textures to create sounds that are so massive and expansive and turn into a melody and something with drive behind it is absolutely incredible. That’s part of the place you get drawn into when you listen to the album. They get experimental, they get fun, and it’s thought-provoking music, which I enjoy. I give this album a 9 out of 10, which is quite a rarity. Beautiful from start to finish, and the fascination remains. I want more!

Polaris

Musikansich
.. convinces with great composition and sound, one of the most fascinating duos of recent years. it is hard to escape the hypnotic charm of the music, which is both structured and complex. Highly recommended! (18/20)

Musikreviews
… an album as brilliant as the stars in the sky, Membran Music takes ‚Polaris‘ as its theme. The instrumental cosmos, with Theremin, piano, soprano saxophone and live electronics moves from classical music to progressive lazz, but at the same time always retaining its dark colouring. Itis unique in the same way as ABOUT APHRODITE! (13/15)

Future Memories

Nrwjazznet
…What Hans and Gilda achieve in this album can only be called an immersive audio experience. Out of melancholy undertones springs music full of tonal fantasy and lyrical depth, and behind the duo’s conscious and animated musical freedom lies a wealth of in-depth knowledge and experience.