Kit Downes

Kit Downes – The Betrayal (2023) [Official Digital Download 24bit/44,1kHz]

Studio Masters By admin · November 3, 2023 · Comments off

ENEMY, the trio of drummer James Maddren, pianist Kit Downes and bassist Petter Eldh make their We Jazz Records debut with their third album The Betrayal, out 22 September 2023. After their self-titled debut (Edition, 2018) and the follow up (Vermillion, ECM 2022), the explosive yet lyrical trio is seeking new directions with the 12-track new record, arguably their strongest yet.

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Lewis Wright, Kit Downes – Duets (2018) [Official Digital Download 24bit/96kHz]

Studio Masters By admin · May 23, 2023 · Comments off

Award-winning British vibraphonist, composer and drummer Lewis Wright explodes the rhythmic and polyphonic possibilities offered by vibraphone and piano. His new album “Duets” reinforces his claim to be a very serious international musician. If you already thought as much – on the evidence of his exemplary vibes work with Empirical – then Duets adds a further seven case studies of exquisite chamber jazz, beautifully recorded at Air Studios.

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Kit Downes & Tom Challenger – Wedding Music (2013) [Official Digital Download 24bit/44,1kHz]

Studio Masters By admin · May 4, 2023 · Comments off

‘Wedding Music’ is the stunning collaboration between Tom Challenger (Saxophone) and Kit Downes (Church Organ). Having both led, co-led and recorded with their own critically acclaimed ensembles (Downes with his Mercury nominated ‘Golden’ and later ‘Quiet Tiger’; Challenger with Ma: ‘The Last’ and Outhouse: ‘Straws Sticks and Bricks’), ‘Wedding Music’ matches the unique texture of Church Organ and Saxophone, as well as bringing together two of the most exciting and gifted young improvisers in the UK.

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Kit Downes – Obsidian (2018) [Official Digital Download 24bit/96kHz]

Studio Masters By admin · May 4, 2023 · Comments off

Kit Downes isn’t like any other church organist. Also a pianist, the Brit juggles with the pipes in a most original way. Even if Obsidian is released by ECM, it’s nonetheless hard to call it jazz. Incidentally, in the catalogue of the label from Munich, not everything is jazz… Over the last few years, Downes has been revisiting the church organ, exploring its sonic possibilities and its idiomatic singularities, through improvisations highlighting both the melodic aspect and the richness in tone of this instrument. In November 2016, the producer Sun Chung followed Kit Downes in three English churches, two in Suffolk, one in London. You can find in these places very different acoustics for organs with very specific characters. It’s also a way for him to broaden his palette. Everything here is colourful, in the twists and turns of stateless but overpowering compositions and improvisations. Alone for the almost entirety of the album, Downes is joined for a track (Modern Gods) by tenor saxophonist Tom Challenger. It’s a superb discographic oddity.

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Kit Downes – Dreamlife Of Debris (2019) [Official Digital Download 24bit/96kHz]

Studio Masters By admin · May 4, 2023 · Comments off

Dreamlife of Debris carries forward the story begun on Kit Downes’s Obsidian (issued by ECM in January 2018), extending and developing its processes and core ideas.

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Kit Downes – Vermillion (2022) [Official Digital Download 24bit/96kHz]

Studio Masters By admin · April 30, 2023 · Comments off

Kit Downes - Vermillion (2022) [Official Digital Download 24bit/96kHz] Download

Vermillion is Kit Downes‘ third album as leader on ECM, the first being his church organ exploration Obsidian, and the second the Dreamlife of Debris album recorded with a quintet including Tom Challenger, Lucy Railton, Stian Westerhus and Seb Rochford. This latest album is recorded by the trio with Petter Eldh on bass and James Maddren on drums, with whom Kit has been working for many years. Interestingly, the group is named by the three musicians rather than by ENEMY, under which they have recorded and toured in the past.
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