Kit Downes
Encyclopedia
Kit Downes is a British jazz pianist. Downes plays regularly with his own trio, Stan Sulzmann
, Troyka, The Golden Age of Steam, Sam Crockatt and Clark Tracey - and has played with Joe Locke
, Gilad Atzmon
, Empirical
, Gerard Presencer
, Seb Rochford
, Iain Ballamy
, Peter Ind, Gwyneth Herbert, John Warren and Eugene Skeef. He has also performed with British bands Fraud, Asaf Sirkis' Inner Noise, Gilad Atzmon's Orient House Ensemble, Acoustic Ladyland
, Nostalgia 77, 2000 Black, Silhouette Brown and Dennis Rollins' Badbone and Co.
and the Royal Academy of Music
.
He was a member of Empirical
, appearing on their debut album, Empirical (Destin-e Records). The album, produced by Courtney Pine
, was the Jazzwise
album of the year and the Mojo
album of the year in 2007. Work with Empirical included The North Sea Jazz Festival, The JVC Festivals in New York, Montreal and Newport, and Vancouver Jazz Festival. Empirical also won the EBU Award at the North Sea Festival.
Downes left Empirical and went on to form prog jazz group Troyka, as well as continuing to work with the Kit Downes Trio. Troyka has Downes on keys, Chris Montague on guitar and Joshua Blackmore on drums. The Trio, including bassist Calum Gourlay and drummer James Maddren, released their debut album Golden
on Basho Records in November 2009, which was one of the 12 albums shortlisted for the 2010 Mercury Music Prize. In June 2010, the Trio recorded a new album, for release on Basho Records in March 2011, with guests cellist Adrien Dennefeld and saxophonist/bass clarinetist James Allsopp.
The Trio have been together since their first year at the Royal Academy of Music, in 2005. The band has played at the London Jazz Festival 2008 and 2009, Ronnie Scott's British Jazz Festival, BBC Radio 3 Live Broadcast, Glasgow Jazz Festival and Cheltenham Jazz Festival. The Trio are inspired by a wide range of influences, ranging from Bela Bartok
to Keith Jarrett
to Rufus Wainwright
.
Downes has also worked with composer Micachu, with whom he recorded in Abbey Road for Matthew Herbert, recorded for BBC Radio 6 and played at the Sonar Music Festival '07 in Barcelona. He is also a member of the F-IRE Collective, an initiative set up by Barak Schmool, which is a musician-led collective to encourage shared learning and sharing of resources.
Stan Sulzmann
Stanley Ernest Sulzmann is an English jazz saxophonist.Sulzmann began on saxophone at age 13 and played in Bill Ashton's London Youth Jazz Orchestra, later the National Youth Jazz Orchestra. He studied at the Royal Academy of Music from 1969-1972...
, Troyka, The Golden Age of Steam, Sam Crockatt and Clark Tracey - and has played with Joe Locke
Joe Locke
Joseph Paul Locke is a US American jazz vibraphonist, composer, recording artist and educator.-Biography:Locke was born in Palo Alto, California, but raised in Rochester, New York...
, Gilad Atzmon
Gilad Atzmon
Gilad Atzmon is an Israeli-born British jazz saxophonist, novelist, political activist and writer.Atzmon's album Exile was BBC jazz album of the year in 2003. Playing over 100 dates a year, he has been called "surely the hardest-gigging man in British jazz." His albums, of which he has recorded...
, Empirical
Empirical (jazz band)
Empirical is a jazz ensemble consisting of Nathaniel Facey on alto saxophone, Tom Farmer on double bass Lewis Wright on vibraphone and Shaney Forbes on drums and frequent collaborator George Fogel piano...
, Gerard Presencer
Gerard Presencer
Gerard Presencer is an English jazz trumpeter who has also made a name as a session player in pop-music contexts, and as a jazz educator. He currently lives in Copenhagen, Denmark.- Biography :...
, Seb Rochford
Seb Rochford
Sebastian "Seb" Rochford is a British drummer who spans many musical genres.He comes from Aberdeen and has a large family of 2 brothers and 7 sisters...
, Iain Ballamy
Iain Ballamy
Iain Ballamy is a British composer, soprano, alto and tenor saxophone player.- Career :Ballamy was schooled at 1975-80 George Abbot School, Guildford. He then studied Musical Instrument Technology from 1980-1982 Merton College...
, Peter Ind, Gwyneth Herbert, John Warren and Eugene Skeef. He has also performed with British bands Fraud, Asaf Sirkis' Inner Noise, Gilad Atzmon's Orient House Ensemble, Acoustic Ladyland
Acoustic Ladyland
Acoustic Ladyland are a London based jazz/punk band consisting of Pete Wareham on vocals, tenor and baritone saxophone, Seb Rochford on drums, Chris Sharkey on Guitar and Ruth Goller on bass guitar....
, Nostalgia 77, 2000 Black, Silhouette Brown and Dennis Rollins' Badbone and Co.
Biography
Downes attended Norwich School, the Purcell SchoolPurcell School
The Purcell School is a specialist music school for children, located in the town of Bushey, south Hertfordshire, England, and is the oldest specialist music school in the UK. The school was awarded the UNESCO Mozart Medal in 2003, which was received on behalf of the school by Prince Charles, who...
and the Royal Academy of Music
Royal Academy of Music
The Royal Academy of Music in London, England, is a conservatoire, Britain's oldest degree-granting music school and a constituent college of the University of London since 1999. The Academy was founded by Lord Burghersh in 1822 with the help and ideas of the French harpist and composer Nicolas...
.
He was a member of Empirical
Empirical (jazz band)
Empirical is a jazz ensemble consisting of Nathaniel Facey on alto saxophone, Tom Farmer on double bass Lewis Wright on vibraphone and Shaney Forbes on drums and frequent collaborator George Fogel piano...
, appearing on their debut album, Empirical (Destin-e Records). The album, produced by Courtney Pine
Courtney Pine
Courtney Pine CBE is an English jazz musician. At school he studied the clarinet, although he is known primarily for his saxophone playing. Pine is a multi-instrumentalist, also playing the flute, clarinet, bass Clarinet and keyboards...
, was the Jazzwise
Jazzwise
Jazzwise Publications Limited is a UK-based specialist jazz music publisher and education company. It was founded in 1984 as a mail-order company promoting jazz and improvisation through catalogues and short courses and workshops for musicians...
album of the year and the Mojo
Mojo (magazine)
MOJO is a popular music magazine published initially by Emap, and since January 2008 by Bauer, monthly in the United Kingdom. Following the success of the magazine Q, publishers Emap were looking for a title which would cater for the burgeoning interest in classic rock music...
album of the year in 2007. Work with Empirical included The North Sea Jazz Festival, The JVC Festivals in New York, Montreal and Newport, and Vancouver Jazz Festival. Empirical also won the EBU Award at the North Sea Festival.
Downes left Empirical and went on to form prog jazz group Troyka, as well as continuing to work with the Kit Downes Trio. Troyka has Downes on keys, Chris Montague on guitar and Joshua Blackmore on drums. The Trio, including bassist Calum Gourlay and drummer James Maddren, released their debut album Golden
Golden (Kit Downes Trio album)
Golden is the debut album by the acoustic jazz Kit Downes Trio. Released September 2009 on Basho Records, it was shortlisted for the 2010 Mercury Prize.-Reception:...
on Basho Records in November 2009, which was one of the 12 albums shortlisted for the 2010 Mercury Music Prize. In June 2010, the Trio recorded a new album, for release on Basho Records in March 2011, with guests cellist Adrien Dennefeld and saxophonist/bass clarinetist James Allsopp.
The Trio have been together since their first year at the Royal Academy of Music, in 2005. The band has played at the London Jazz Festival 2008 and 2009, Ronnie Scott's British Jazz Festival, BBC Radio 3 Live Broadcast, Glasgow Jazz Festival and Cheltenham Jazz Festival. The Trio are inspired by a wide range of influences, ranging from Bela Bartok
Béla Bartók
Béla Viktor János Bartók was a Hungarian composer and pianist. He is considered one of the most important composers of the 20th century and is regarded, along with Liszt, as Hungary's greatest composer...
to Keith Jarrett
Keith Jarrett
Keith Jarrett is an American pianist and composer who performs both jazz and classical music.Jarrett started his career with Art Blakey, moving on to play with Charles Lloyd and Miles Davis. Since the early 1970s he has enjoyed a great deal of success in jazz, jazz fusion, and classical music; as...
to Rufus Wainwright
Rufus Wainwright
Rufus McGarrigle Wainwright is an American-Canadian singer-songwriter. He has recorded six albums of original music, EPs, and tracks on compilations and film soundtracks.-Early years:...
.
Downes has also worked with composer Micachu, with whom he recorded in Abbey Road for Matthew Herbert, recorded for BBC Radio 6 and played at the Sonar Music Festival '07 in Barcelona. He is also a member of the F-IRE Collective, an initiative set up by Barak Schmool, which is a musician-led collective to encourage shared learning and sharing of resources.
Discography
- Empirical: Empirical, 2008
- Troyka: Troyka (Edition), 2009
- Duo with Tom Cawley: Homely, 2009
- Clark Tracey: Current Climate (Tentoten), 2009
- Kit Downes Trio: GoldenGolden (Kit Downes Trio album)Golden is the debut album by the acoustic jazz Kit Downes Trio. Released September 2009 on Basho Records, it was shortlisted for the 2010 Mercury Prize.-Reception:...
(Basho Records, SRCD 31-2), 2009 - Kit Downes Trio: Quiet Tiger (Basho Records, SRCD 34-2), 2010
External links
- Kit Downes — official site
- Kit Downes / Kit Downes Trio discographies at DiscogsDiscogsDiscogs, short for discographies, is a website and database of information about audio recordings, including commercial releases, promotional releases, and bootleg or off-label releases. The Discogs servers, currently hosted under the domain name discogs.com, are owned by Zink Media, Inc., and are...
- Kit Downes — blog
- Kit Downes: A Young Jazz Pianist To Watch, profile article in The Daily TelegraphThe Daily TelegraphThe Daily Telegraph is a daily morning broadsheet newspaper distributed throughout the United Kingdom and internationally. The newspaper was founded by Arthur B...
newspaper by Sebastian Scotney, dated 24 September 2009 - Kit Downes at Basho Records