1.Jinn
2.Alliri
3.Waira
4.Tricko
5.Ihno
6.Arkane
7.Helkalen
Kit Downes (piano), Lucy Railton (cello)
All compositions by Kit Downes
rec. tracks 1,3,5 at University of Surrey, Guildford, UK, tracks 2,6 at St.George’s in the East, Shadwell, UK and tracks 4,7 at St.Paul’s, Huddersfield,
UK. [41:41]
What a refreshingly different disc this is which confirms Kit Downes (Mercury Music Award Nominee 2010, BBC Jazz Award Winner 2009) as the great jazz
innovator he has shown himself to be from the word go. While a duo of piano and cello may not have an immediate appeal the listener will surely be hooked
as soon as they hear it which once again proves that it pays to have no preconceptions for this is chamber jazz at its very best. All the tunes are by
Downes and there is clearly an overarching theme running through them which, even if he wasn’t aware of it which he surely was, goes beyond his statement
that he didn’t allow himself to feel forced to finish the compositions instead simply allowing them to evolve over time and find their own natural
conclusions. Clues may be found in each tune’s title but if so they’re not obvious to me. I wholeheartedly agree with The Guardian’s John Fordham who wrote
that the disc is “A testament to Downes’s quirky talent for making difficult music sound natural”. Lucy Railton’s cello is beautifully measured with a
precise articulation that, together with Downes’s magical piano, has the music exert a hypnotic compulsion to hit the repeat button over and over again
with the result that once heard the disc will be difficult to put back on your CD shelves.
Steve Arloff
CD Reviews
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