Kit Downes (UK) solo + Kit Downes / Wilbur Whitta Trio – Tuesday, 28th of March 2023:
Kit Downes is a BBC Jazz Award winning, Mercury Music Award nominated solo recording artist for ECM Records. He has toured the world playing piano, church organ and harmonium with his own bands (‘ENEMY’, ‘Troyka’ and ‘Elt’) as well as with artists such as Squarepusher, Bill Frisell, ‘Empirical’, Andrew Cyrille, Sofia Jernberg, Benny Greb, Mica Levi and Sam Amidon.
Kit performs solo pipe organ and solo piano concerts – as well as playing in collaborations with saxophonist Ben van Gelder, violinist Aidan O’Rourke, drummer Seb Rochford, and with bands ‘ENEMY’ with Petter Eldh and James Maddren and organ trio ‘Deadeye’ with Reinier Baas and Jonas Burgwinkel.
He has twice been awarded 1st place in Downbeat’s Critics Poll Rising Star for Organ and Keyboard categories respectively, and his ECM records ‘Obsidian‘, ‘Dreamlife of Debris‘ and ‘Vermillion‘ have been released to much critical acclaim.
Wilbur Whitta is an award-winning Gadigal (Sydney) based pianist and composer who makes contemporary jazz and improvised music. Wilbur has performed around Australia, the UK, Europe and Japan. Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic Wilbur had settled in London, earning a name for himself as an in-demand pianist in the city. He has received various accolades, including being selected as a finalist in the 2021 National Jazz Awards, and receiving the Dankworth Jazz Composition Award. Wilbur currently leads his band ‘Wildfire’, who are set to record their debut album on ABC Jazz this year.
Kit Downes will open the evening with a solo set, followed by a trio performance featuring both Wilbur and Kit, and rounded out by Sydney drumming celebrity Tim Firth.
Praise for Kit Downes:
“It testifies to his world-class stature” – The Guardian
“One of the finest pianists of his generation” – Jazzwise
“Considerable chops and flowing imagination” – Downbeat
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