Koma Saxo with Sofia Jernberg - Koma West (March 18, 2022 We Jazz Records)

Petter Eldh's explosive ensemble Koma Saxo continues their adventures with a new album "Koma West", out on We Jazz Records, 18 March 2022. The album sees Koma Saxo expand on their previous sound with the addition of vocalist Sofia Jernberg and a strong cast of featured artists, including cellist Lucy Railton, violinist Maria Reich, pianist Kit Downes and accordionist Kiki Eldh (Petter's mom!). The hard-hitting key quintet remains, including Eldh on bass and assorted instruments, Christian Lillinger on drums, plus saxophonists Otis Sandsjö (of Y-OTIS), Jonas Kullhammar and Mikko Innanen bringing the SAXO to the KOMA operation.

At 14 tracks, "Koma West" is a full menu of monumental compositional ideas that could spawn entire albums. True to his chop & go production style, Eldh relies on continuous movement while presenting another all killer no filler program taking Koma Saxo on a sonic outing not quite like anything that had previously appeared under the band's name. That being said, there's very much the Petter Eldh touch here, one which might be hard to pinpoint and verbalise, but nevertheless a recognisable style of composing, producing and arranging.

Thematically, the album is rooted in the West Coast of Sweden, where Eldh grew up – he's from a tiny town called Lysekil. There's a thread of Swedish folk song tradition that has been part of the Koma Saxo DNA from the get-go and you can hear that here as well, especially on cuts such as "Närhet", beautifully sung by Sofia Jernberg.

Petter Eldh says:

"In a way, it's a concept album and a celebration of the Swedish West Coast. The first single is called 'Koma Kaprifol', and kaprifol is the landscape flower of Bohuslän on the West coast, where I grew up. I'm not too wild about attaching strong narratives to my music but there's no way around it this time. The oysters, a common snack around the coast, are a strong conceptual presence here. Anyway, they seem to pop up here and there quite often already thus far in the Koma Saxo narrative, even though it's not always so obvious. Koma Vocals! Koma Strings! I love the presence of Sofia Jernberg here and I love writing string arrangements, too, although I never thought I would do it for Koma, but of course, Koma should have some strings, why not?. Koma Saxo should and can become anything." 

1. Lo Ve Ko Ma

2. Croydon Koma

3. Koma Krig

4. Flamman

5. Lake Koma

6. Koma Kaprifol

7. Ostron Accordion

8. Klippan Granit

9. Koma Rail

10. Närhet

11. Koma Fred

12. Saxo Chop

13. Clos Eko

14. Koma Camu

Petter Eldh - Double Bass, Sampler, Piano, Percussion

Sofia Jernberg - Voice

Christian Lillinger - Drums

Otis Sandsjö - Tenor Saxophone, Alto Clarinet

Jonas Kullhammar - Tenor Saxophone, Flute, Slide Saxophone

Mikko Innanen - Alto Saxophone, Sopranino Saxophone

Lucy Railton - Cello

Maria Reich - Violin

Kiki Eldh (the momvillain) - Accordion

Kit Downes - Piano

Produced by Petter Eldh

Executive producer Matti Nives

All compositions by Petter Eldh except “Närhet”, written by Fritz Sjöström, arranged by Petter Eldh

Recorded at Atlantis, Stockholm, 14th of April 2021, by Niclas Lindström

Additional recordings by Petter Eldh at Koma Saxo Industries, Berlin

Some of the voice and piano additions recorded by Sofia and Kit somewhere in Europe

Kiki Eldh recorded by Petter Eldh at Mountain Man Studios, Lysekil

Mixed by Petter Eldh at Koma Saxo Industries, Berlin

Mastered by Martin Ruch at CONTROL ROOM BERLIN

Design by Matti Nives

PRE ORDER

Kit Downes | Petter Eldh | James Maddren | "Vermillion" | February 11, 2022 ECM

Pianist Kit Downes Continues to Push

New Concepts through a Trio Format

in his Latest Release Vermillion

Available February 11 via ECM Records

After his widely acclaimed ECM leader-debut Obsidian saw Kit Downes exploring a broad spectrum of organ timbres and the chamber-toned follow-up Dreamlife Of Debris substantially expanded the instrumental pallet, Vermillion now introduces us to Kit’s exceptional pianistic qualities in a trio context with collaborators Petter Eldh on bass and James Maddren on drums. 

The Guardian has praised Kit for his “uncanny ability to make difficult music sound natural” and Vermillion provides proof of that, capturing the trio in a carefully assorted piano trio programme that treads gentle lyricism and bold creative outbursts in equal measures and with a strong penchant for melody.

“This record is different from what I’ve done before. We pushed ourselves into an area that we haven’t played in before, which is a more chamber music-oriented sound. The complex rhythmic component is still kept intact, but it’s wrapped in a different aesthetic.” Kit traces his constant search for new musical challenges back to his early mentor, pianist John Taylor, who passed in 2016 and to whom Kit dedicated his first ECM recording: “John sought after real moments in the music, often by doing something unpredictable. He wanted to make new things happen and was obsessed with taking risks musically, which is what I think I did with Obsidian and what we’re doing now on Vermillion.”

Risk comes in subtle disguise as the trio navigates rich and varied structures. Powerful bass attack is intercepted by the softest piano touch, uneven meters veiled in rubato feel and Kit’s unique harmonic language hides its intricacies in patient timing and warm cadences. James Maddren’s percussive contribution is both assertive and adaptable, woven into the music’s fabric. 

No matter whether written and rehearsed at an earlier point or brought to the group on the day of the recording, the trio gives each idea definition and every impulse precise form. “Rather than just documenting everything we’ve done live, with Manfred Eicher’s help we picked what felt like a great collection of music – some music written a couple of years ago, other songs merely two days old. ‘Class Fails’ for example was brought on the day of the recording by Petter. Its bass line may sound like it’s free, but it’s actually in quite specific time. As we started playing the song it turned into what sounds like an organized rubato.” 

On Vermillion, construction and deconstruction exist in harmony with each other, creating organic shapes as the two extremes pull at opposite ends and yield gracefully melodious themes in the process. Kit and Petter each came up with five pieces, while the eleventh and final one is an abstract take on Jimi Hendrix’ “Castles Made Of Sand” – the trio joining in a careful unravelling of the song’s individual elements. Vermillion, recorded at the Auditorio Stelio Molo in Lugano in May and June 2021, was produced by Manfred Eicher. 

James Maddren and Kit Downes’ musical association goes back to their college days, when the two were flatmates, making music together on a daily basis. James studied with percussionist Martin France at the Royal Academy of Music in London and belongs to the most in-demand percussionists in today’s UK jazz scene – having contributed to recordings and performances by the likes of Norma Winstone, Marc Copland and Gwilym Simcock, on top of being the rhythmic backbone to the majority of Kit’s projects. 

Known as the bassist in pianist Django Bates’ Belovèd trio – the trio’s album Study of Touch was released on ECM in 2017 – Petter Eldh’s distinct lower-end contributions can be heard in a variety of contexts since joining Bates’ trio in 2010. Besides his work as an accomplished jazz player, Petter also experiments with electronics, hip-hop and other forms of popular music, which he combines with his jazz background in his Berlin-based group Koma Saxo.

Kit Downes was an organ scholar at St Peter Mancroft in Norwich before going on to study piano, organ and composition at the Purcell School and the Royal Academy of Music. He recorded and toured widely with the band Empirical while also working with – among others Django Bates and Lee Konitz. Besides Petter Eldh and James Maddren, over the years Kit has frequently collaborated with drummer Sebastian Rochford, saxophonist Tom Challenger and cellist Lucy Railton, who all appear on his last ECM outing Dreamlife Of Debris.

Kitt Downes | Vermillion

ECM Release Date: February 11, 2022

PRE-ORDER

Phelan Burgoyne - Yazgol / An anthology of previously unrecorded compositions by Paul Motian (October 1, 2021)

An anthology of previously unrecorded compositions by Paul Motian

1. Uhm Hum 05:02

2. Riff Raff 04:30

3. Night 06:33

4. Tacho 02:13

5. Tangram 02:52

6. Sidetracked 01:15

7. Carnival 04:04

8. Zimbabwe 04:48

9. Prairie Avenue Cowboy 01:40

10. Wonderful One 05:41

11. Untitled 1. 03:23

12. Tales of the Unexpected 02:15

13. Armenian Melody (Piano) 02:39

14. If Its Not One Thing, Its Another 01:29

15. Sam Brown 03:56

16. Untitled 2. 04:34

17. The Hymn 02:18

18. Oleevio 00:34

19. Benny D. 03:39

20. Uptown Walk 03:51

21. September 03:16

22. Armenian Melody (Duduk) 02:26

Phelan Burgoyne - drums, percussion (1,2,3,78,9,10,16,19,20)

Kit Downes - piano (4,5,6,12,13)

Larry Grenadier - double bass (11)

Zac Gvirtzman - clarinets, tenor saxophone, accordion, duduk, piano (7,16,17,18,22)

Rob Luft - electric guitar (1,2,3,8,9,10,19,20)

Nicolas Masson - tenor saxophone (21)

Martin Speake - alto saxophone (1,2,3,8,9,10,19,20)

Fred Thomas - double bass, tenor banjo - (7,14,16,17)

Tal Yahalom - classical guitar (15)

Mixed and mastered by Gardar Edvaldsson

Design by Phelan Burgoyne - Paul Motian Passport Photo March 1975 ©Paul Motian Archive

PREORDER

Matthew Halpin - Agreements (May 14, 2021)

When I first put on Matthew’s record, I felt like a kid again—lying on the floor of the living room, dreading the moment when a song would end. Matthew and his band of musicians—Kit Downes on organ, Hanno Busch on guitar, Sean Carpio on drums, and Sergio Martinez on percussion—embody present, past, and future. They expand and contract, maneuver past impossible hairpin turns, and interact with kaleidoscopic intricacy.

The result is a glimpse into Halpin’s vertiginous inner life. On “Dancing with the Devil,” Downes’s organ shrieks above the fray as the band builds into a Boschian orgy. On “To Do,” the same organ paints planar surfaces and hallucinatory shapes, weaving a retrofuturist fugue state in the song's second half. Martinez and Carpio propel “The Beach'' forward with a groove at once relentless and weightless, scintillating like the light that reflects off the water on a perfect summer’s day. In “Treetown,” Halpin and Busch’s electroacoustic bird calls remind me of the Brooklyn mockingbirds that have learned to imitate car alarms: nature adapting to technology. The track recedes like the natural world it represents, increasingly silent in the wake of destruction.

1. To-Do Today, To-Do Dismay

2. Dancing with the Devil

3. Dog Day Afternoon

4. The Beach

5. Swings and Roundabouts

6. Sit Up and Shut Down

7. Awkward Handshakes

8. Pop Fiction

9. Treetown

10. Sigh For Sam

11. Sleep

Matthew Halpin - tenor saxophone, composition

Kit Downes - hammond organ

Hanno Busch - electric guitar

Sergio Martinez - percussion

Sean Carpio - drums 

Veronika Morscher, Rebekka Salomea Ziegler, Laura Totenhagen - voices on “Sleep"

Recorded at Riverside Studios, Cologne

Engineered by Julian David

Mixed and mastered by Oliver Bergner

Artwork by Janet Cruise Halpin

Graphic design by Daniel F. Hirth

Released with Frutex Tracks

Distribution by Hey!Blau

Supported by Generations Jazz Festival and SRF

Pre-order

Jeff Williams - Lifelike (WHIRLWIND RECORDINGS 2018)

Dividing his time between Brooklyn and London, veteran drummer Jeff Williams is in the midst of an exceptional run on the Whirlwind Recordings label. Outlier, in 2016, showcased his working UK quintet in a set hailed by All About Jazz for its “imaginative compositions and excellent musicianship.” Lifelike, the follow-up, finds Williams and the group live on the bandstand, with a tweak in personnel and an expansion to sextet with the addition of guest trumpeter Gonçalo Marquez. Also entering the picture is alto saxophonist John O’Gallagher, a fiery presence on Williams’ first two Whirlwind releases (Another Time and The Listener). Tenor saxophonist Josh Arcoleo, pianist Kit Downes and bassist Sam Lasserson remain on board from Outlier, playing with characteristic beauty and grit. 

Williams has documented his compositional voice on recordings going back to the late ’80s. His pedigree as a sought-after sideman and collaborator stretches back farther, from his membership in Lookout Farm with Dave Liebman and Richie Beirach to his vital work with Stan Getz, Lee Konitz, Ted Curson, Cecil McBee, Jerry Bergonzi, Joe Lovano and a host of others. Leading this new lineup, Williams builds on this extensive and invaluable history, pushing his art ever forward. “Lifelike is another way of saying ‘live,’” he muses about the album title. “The word is usually ascribed to inanimate objects and I always found it humorous. Basically, I felt that this recording has ‘life’ in it, the kind of life embodied in a live performance.” 

Although Phil Robson, the brilliant guitarist on Outlier, recently moved to New York, O’Gallagher’s transition from Brooklyn to Birmingham, England came just in time. The change keeps the music fresh and unexpected. “John and I go back more than 20 years,” Williams says. “He’s been the constant in my band and it’s hard to imagine him not a part of it. He has his own musical vocabulary and conception, and fortunately he’s pursuing his doctorate from Royal Birmingham Conservatoire, where I also teach, so he’s available to me again as a key ingredient.” 

Together, O’Gallagher and Arcoleo bring Williams’ music into tight focus while fostering a loose and supple interplay. Marquez joins on 'Under the Radar', 'Dream Visitor' and his own original 'Canção do Amolador', thickening the texture and harmony. “I was fortunate to meet Josh when he signed up for lessons with me at the Royal Academy of Music,” Williams recalls. “He studied with Pee Wee Ellis growing up, even toured with him while still a teenager. Gonçalo is a more recent discovery: I met him when bassist Demian Cabaud invited me to play some dates in Portugal last year. We played Gonçalo’s ‘Canção do Amolador’ and I was captivated. There’s a special hookup between trumpet and drums unlike any other. But it has to be just right, and it is with him.” 

Downes is a formidable soloist throughout, but the color and dynamic sensitivity of his comping proves just as extraordinary. “Kit is an exceptional musician with incredible ears,” Williams says. “He’s able to anticipate and enhance everything the band members play. And Sam, one of London’s most in-demand bassists, has logged numerous musical miles with me over the last decade or so. With him I’m able to play exactly as I feel.” 

Williams, for his part, is a tremendous presence on the kit, tailoring the dynamics of the pieces, swinging hard and responsively, harnessing the energy and uncompromising musical intelligence of his colleagues. Lifelike may capture just one night (June 13, 2017) in one club, but it’s a vibrant summation of the band’s achievement across many live performances in support of Outlier. 

“My own compositions come from different periods,” Williams says. “‘Borderline’ and ‘Lament’ are from the ’90s, others quite recent. All are conceived at the piano: sometimes I just write down the notes as they present themselves, or sometimes I’ll play one for an extended period while learning to improvise on the form and tweaking the harmony, as was the case with ‘The Interloper.’ I’m looking for balance between songs with structure and open forms so that the players have freedom to express their own conception.” 

A number of the tunes Williams recorded on earlier releases; Lifelike offers an intimate view of their evolution during many nights on the bandstand. 'Borderline' and 'Lament' from The Listener, and 'Under the Radar and 'Double Life' from Another Time, were all previously heard in a chordless quartet context, with O’Gallagher and trumpeter Duane Eubanks. The contrast here after the addition of Downes’ piano and Arcoleo’s tenor is striking. ('Under the Radar' is a six-bar blues, Williams observes). Of 'The Interloper' and 'Borderline', Williams says: “These have in common a Monkian sensibility, though it wasn’t intentional. In both cases the melody dictated the form, making the structures unusual and challenging to maintain for soloing.” 

'Dream Visitor', with its tension-filled repeating bass motif, cleverly shifts key centers throughout to “allow each soloist to have a different tonality to explore,” Williams explains. “The final section features a different, more funk-like bass line. In this version, a group blowing section culminates in the spontaneous horn figure you hear just before the conclusion. The overall trajectory is mapped out, but that horn figure just happened.” 

The rubato section of 'Lament', Williams notes, “is almost like a fugue. It was written after a good friend passed away in a tragic accident. He was from New Orleans and the beginning is like the funeral service, while the swing section is like the second line that celebrates the deceased.” And 'Double Life', with its shifts from bright waltz to midtempo and double-time 4/4, “refers to my trans-Atlantic existence, as well as the second life that I gave the tune by reworking it.” In these and the other pieces, there’s technical brilliance but also a deeper emotional frame of reference, giving Lifelike a most complex and magnetic appeal.

"C​ontemporary, forward-looking but knows where it’s coming from.​" 

Bebop Spoken Here​ 

​"​The sextet rambles, rumbles, and rocks through seven Williams originals​... Full of life." 

Step Tempest 

"Absorbing and memorable.​.. ​superb virtuosic musicians​." 

Sandy Brown Jazz​ 

​"​The writing is free-ranging, with lots of exploration at the edges of free-form, but the melodies and structures are satisfyingly memorable and direct throughout​." 

Jazz Views​ 

“A celebration of progressive live jazz.” 

Jazz ‘n’ More 

“Williams constantly pushes at the shift between tonality and atonality and deftly masters the balance between structured and open play.” 

★★★★​ ​Concerto Magazine 

“Rousing and multi-layered... Exciting and vital modern jazz.” 

Jazz Podium

1. Under the Radar 08:39

2. The Interloper 06:31

3. Dream Visitor 08:33

4. Lament 09:45

5. Borderline 08:46

6. Conçao do Amolador 07:59

7. Double Life 10:12

Jeff Williams - drums

Gonçalo Marquez - trumpet

John O'Gallagher - alto saxophone

Josh Arcoleo - tenor saxophone

Kit Downes - piano

Sam Lasserson - double bass

Recorded at Vortex Jazz Club, London (June 13th 2017)

Engineered by Alex Bonney

Mixed and mastered by Max Ross at Systems Two, Brooklyn NY

Produced by Jeff Williams

Executive Producer - Michael Janisch

Jacket design concept and photography by Jeff Williams

Enemy - Enemy (EDITION RECORDS May 25, 2018)

“Rip-roaring groove, mind-boggling polyrhythmic drumming, snapping physicality and sweeping piano runs from brittle street grooves”. THE GUARDIAN ****

ENEMY is the vital new piano trio featuring bassist Frans Petter Eldh, pianist Kit Downes and drummer James Maddren. Described as ‘fiercely intense’ and ‘beautifully intricate’, ENEMY spotlights three brilliant and creative musical minds committed to the exploration of new worlds of performance and music: total music, with each musician contributing equally in an authentic aesthetic display.

Each member of ENEMY has achieved personal recognition in the jazz and wider music world (including a Mercury Music Award Nomination, ECHO Jazz nomination, multiple Downbeat Critics Poll nominations and a BBC Jazz Award).

“We want this music to be fierce, vital and to have and give energy – and to do so whilst never sacrificing its intricacy and its integrity.” ENEMY

Frans Petter Eldh bass

Kit Downes piano

James Maddren drums

Listen Before You Buy
LP. CD. DN

Kit Downes - Obsidian (ECM January 19, 2018)

'Obsidian' is a collection of Kit Downes’ solo organ works from the eponymous album released on ECM Records. It is a musical response to volcanicity, slow processes that cause extreme reactions. A mixture of written and semi-scored/semi-improvised pieces, it focusses on the nuances and unique features of both smaller chamber organs local to rural Suffolk as well as larger grander instruments from bigger cities around the UK. It is both a study of extended techniques from instruments sometimes in states of disrepair, and a connection and adaptation of the improvised tradition of the instrument, exploring themes of duration, vibration and mechanics.

1 Kings by Kit Downes 2 Black Is The Colour by Kit Downes

3 Rings Of Saturn by Kit Downes

4 Seeing Things by Kit Downes

5 Modern Gods by Kit Downes and Tom Challenger

6 The Bone Gambler by Kit Downes

7 Flying Foxes by Kit Downes

8 Ruth's Song For The Sea by Kit Downes

9 Last Leviathan by Kit Downes

10 The Gift by Kit Downes

www.kitdownes.com

Jeff Williams - Outlier (2016)

Source: whirlwindrecordings

Across a career spanning four decades, it would seem easiest to consider the musicians with whom Jeff Williams hasn’t worked. A respected stalwart of the international jazz circuit, the American drummer has notably rubbed shoulders with Stan Getz, Dizzy Gillespie, Lee Konitz, Dave Liebman, Randy Brecker, John Abercrombie and Joe Lovano.

Williams has graced innumerable New York and London stages over the years, making frequent Atlantic crossings between the two cities. In his latest solo project, the accomplished band leader and composer collaborates with both seasoned and up-and-coming colleagues from the UK: Josh Arcoleo (tenor saxophone), Phil Robson (guitar), Kit Downes (keys) and Sam Lasserson (basses). This engaging album of originals prompts a dynamic quintet response to a variety of energized compositions.

His third album for Whirlwind (following 2011’s Another Time and 2013’s The Listener), Williams’ Outlier combines previously unrecorded works from the ‘70s and ‘80s – such as the driving, fusion-laced ‘Dream Visitor’ and Brazilian-hued ‘Hermeto’ (after Hermeto Pascoal) – with more recent, equally assertive compositions. As an experienced leader at the kit with an instinctive, deeply-imbued jazz sensibility, Williams coaxes intelligent, colorful interplay from his colleagues. As Jeff confirms: “It always astonishes me what these guys – leaders in their own right – bring to the music that I write. They find things I didn’t even know existed.”

The scope of this imaginative working band ranges from the smouldering, Joe Henderson-influenced oscillations of the title track ‘Outlier’ to the relentless ‘Oddity,’ which swings with unbridled vitality. The straight forward beauty of ‘New and Old’ recalls poignant memories with tender detail. Also a pianist, adding Rhodes to this album, Williams describes ‘Meeting a Stranger’ as “one of those rare tunes that came out whole”. Possessing a wide brashness, ‘The Interloper’ exudes a joyful, Monkish abandon.

Like all masters of a genre, Jeff Williams has profoundly internalized the traditions of jazz without being tyrannized by its conventions. Combining his influences and broad experience to form his own unique voice, he refuses to constrain himself to a single stylistic approach. Most vitally, he wants his audience to respond to his music emotionally: “It’s my continued vision – my aim to offer something that’s universal but also personal, and which might transport the listener into a realm that’s pleasurable and thought-provoking. It’s important to me that, within the construction of the music, there’s a feeling and a warmth to be discovered.”

Jeff Williams - drums, percussion, Fender rhodes

Josh Arcoleo - tenor saxophone

Phil Robson - guitar

Kit Downes - piano and Fender rhodes

Sam Lasserson - double & electric basses

Recorded 13 & 14 April, 2015 at Fish Factory Studio, London

Engineered by Benedic Lamdin and Alex Bonney

Mixed by Alex Bonney and Jeff Williams, London

Mastered by Max Ross, Systems Two, NY

Produced by Jeff Williams

Executive Producer - Michael Janisch

1. Outlier

2. The Interloper

3. Dream Visitor

4. Meeting a Stranger

5. New and Old

6. Hermeto

7. Oddity

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