ski Welcome to the official Ski Oakenfull Website.
Ski is an Artist, Keyboard player, Producer, Remixer and Composer living in London. Having started his career with The K-Creative who were signed to Gilles Peterson's Talkin' Loud label in 1991, he has gone on to release three solo albums, Life Changes, Rising Son, and Short Circuits, play keyboards with bands such as Galliano, Raw Stylus & Two Banks of Four, remix over 50 tracks, and work at Xenomania. He currently releases music on his own label, Primaudial Records, writes & produces with artists such as Incognito, Dave Lee, Valerie Etienne, and Duke Dumont. He has an Ambient Electronic project called Ayota, and also makes regular radio shows. Alongside his production work, Ski holds the position of Head of Education & Curriculum at Point Blank Music School where he manages their degree programmes. He has also made over a hundred tutorial videos for the school's YouTube channel which have racked up over ten million views, and is an Ableton Certified Trainer. Please have a look around this site, and feel free to leave a message.

Released on October 4th, 1994, ‘Ain't Gonna Justify’ was my first solo single, marking a major turning point in my journey as an artist. My previous band, The K-Creative, signed to Gilles Peterson’s Talkin’ Loud records, had split up a couple of years before, and my manager at the time was encouraging me to start writing and producing my own music. Heavily influenced by artists like Larry Heard, The Police, and Grace Jones, this was one of the first songs I wrote, demoed at home on my Fostex 4-track, using an Atari ST, Roland S760 sampler, and Korg 01/WFD synthesizer. I originally sang on the early version, so I was blown away when US soulful vocalist Chezeré came over to my house and sang the song back to me. It was a surreal experience, my first realisation that I could be a songwriter, and it gave me the confidence to push forward as a solo artist.

Artist: 
Ski Oakenfull
Featuring: 
Chezeré
Release Date: 
4 July, 2025
Record Label: 
Acid Jazz Records

I'm very excited to announce that I'll be DJing and performing live in Tokyo at the Violetta club in Shibuya on Saturday 9th August. I'm also honoured to be playing alongside Toshio Matsuura, Terry Washizu and Leo Gabriel Sebbag for what will be a very special night of 'Galaxy Jazz'. If you are in Tokyo at that time I really hope you can come along.
Thanks so much to Terry Washizu and Manabu Mori for all their help and support creating this event 🙏

2025.8.9(Sat)
GALAXY JAZZ MEETING

DJ & LIVE:
SKI OAKENFULL (Galliano | Incognito)

Date: 
Saturday, August 9, 2025

To celebrate the 20th anniversary of Ski Oakenfull’s 'Rising Son' album, Primaudial Records presents 'Rising Son Remixes', a 6-track EP of deep cuts, unreleased gems, and long-lost remixes, now available digitally for the first time.

Originally released in 2005 on BBE (UK) and Pony Canyon (Japan), 'Rising Son' was co-produced by Ski alongside Jean-Paul “Bluey” Maunick (Incognito) and DJ Venom. Reissued in 2023, the album gets a new lease of life through remixes by the late great Yam Who? (Andy Williams), UK beat pioneer Dobie, Japanese deep house duo Agora Rhythm, and Ski himself.

It includes soulful and jazz-infused tracks featuring the vocals of Chi Turner and the late Amp Fiddler, with grooves touching house, broken beat, and cosmic disco. This release is dedicated to Andy Williams, a true legend whose music lives on. Many thanks to Terry Washizu for the help coordinating this release.

I'm very happy to announce that Glasgow Underground have reissued Rose Smith's 'Dawnraiding' LP on digital platforms. It was originally released on CD and vinyl on June 3rd 2002, and was the next major project I took on after the release on my 2000 debut album Life Changes. I had been introduced to Rose by my publisher at the time, Chrysalis, and we co-wrote the title track on that album. I was thrilled to be asked to produce Rose's album, and I'm really proud of it!
You can check iy out here:
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/album/5idXgoQqUN9M6X8YhOukE2?si=w5UVddDqR3K0x18...
Apple Music: https://music.apple.com/gb/album/dawnraiding/1793084856

Check out my interview with Nick Luscombe, recorded in a quiet(ish) corner of Tower Records in Shibuya, Tokyo on 3rd Jan 2025. It was for his new Jazz show on One Jazz. Thanks so much to @lusconick for having me 🙏

Playlist:

Freddy da Stupid - Back To Pangea Part II (Jazzapella Version)
MISS C-LINE x Berlin Lama - U Don’t Want It (feat. Andi Allenbach)
RM jazz legacy - Beyond Of The Night
Prepared - Modul Eins
Phil Dawson - Now Rise Up
George Ohtsuka Quintet - Loving You
Yoshio Ohtomo Quartet - In A Little Spring Waltz
Ski Oakenfull - Fifths (Jazzanova 6 Sickth Mix)

Ski Oakenfull Interview

Produced by: Yukihiro Kanesaka
Vocals: Robert Gallagher
Keyboards: Ski Oakenfull
Bass & Guitar: Ernie McKone

Artist: 
Ski Oakenfull
Release Date: 
7 January, 2025

This show was recorded on the 22nd December 2024

Here's the tracklist:

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