25 September 2010Sonic Arts Research Centre - Belfast
Doors open: 8pm
Tickets: £10/£7 concession*
(*concession - applicable to persons of pensionable age/students/the unwaged)
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Kit Downes Trio - Mercury Prize nominees 2010
Featuring:
Kit Downes, piano
Calum Gourlay, bass
James Maddren, drums
“Downes seems to have become everyone’s favourite young pianist…bassist Calum Gourlay and drummer James Maddren are all players to watch” Dave Gelly, Observer
A student of the Purcell School of Music and the Royal Academy of Music, pianist/composer Kit Downes exploded onto the British Jazz Scene playing with acclaimed acts such as Empirical, Troyka, Fraud and Acoustic Ladyland. He then went on to win the BBC Jazz Award for Rising Star in 2008, as well as a prestigious Yamaha Scholorship in 2009.
Now, Kit has moved on to his own trio project, which sees him link up with his two Royal Academy colleagues - Calum Gourlay on bass and James Maddren on drums. Playing together since 2005, Downes, Gourlay and Maddren display a level of understanding and intelligence that can only come from working closely together for a number of years. They read each other perfectly.
Aiming to celebrate the classic piano trio tradition, as well as develop it, the trio’s sound concentrates on walking the fine line between improvisation and composition. The music they produce is immediately arresting and is inspired by an eclectic mix of influences - from Bela Bartok to Keith Jarrett to Rufus Wainwright.
The Kit Downes Trio have recorded live sessions for BBC Jazz on 3 and have performed at the London Jazz Festival, Cheltenham Jazz Festival and Glasgow Jazz Festival.
The Trio’s Mercury Prize nominated debut album ‘Golden’ was released in 2009 and was as one selected as one of Jazzwises's Tip 10 Albums of the Year.
“Golden is striking not only for his playing, but also for his compositions.. a brilliantly interactive trio. He’s a remarkably distinctive player. Inside or outside, his lines are full of the original and unexpected, with a logic of their own; and his stunning technique is matched by a rhythmic flexibility given full scope by his rapport with Gourlay and, especially, Maddren.” **** - Ray Comiskey, Irish Times
More information about Kit Downes is available
HERE