|
contents | jazz | |||||||||||||
| British Sax Sensation Soweto Kinch To Make North American Debut The award-winning, “blazing young alto player” [Ben Ratliff, The New York Times] and rapper SOWETO KINCH will make his North American debut on Tuesday, December 7 at The Jazz Gallery, 290 Hudson Street, in Manhattan. Mr. Kinch, who will be accompanied by Karim Merchant (piano), Michael Olatuja (double bass) and Troy Miller (drums), will debut music from “Conversations From The Unseen” (Dune CD08) his critically acclaimed and entirely self-penned recording debut as a leader which the British publication Jazz Express hailed as “…one of the best and most original British jazz albums ever made.” Trumpeter and fellow Dune recording artist Abram Wilson will appear as a special guest. An exceptionally gifted, self-taught musician, SOWETO KINCH was born in London in 1978, started playing clarinet when he was eight and switched to the alto when he was nine. Like many of the rising stars of British jazz, he is a graduate of the Tomorrow’s Warriors youth jazz development program. Though Mr. Kinch’s music is firmly rooted in jazz and a strong respect for the tradition – he is often compared to the late great Jamaican alto saxophonist Joe Harriott -- he is constantly exploring his own relationship with the music while integrating other styles. One of the few jazz artists -- let alone rappers - with a degree in Modern History from Oxford University, Mr. Kinch cites Courtney Pine, Denys Baptiste and Gary Crosby as his main mentors and made his recording debut in 2001 with Crosby's Jazz Jamaica All Stars. He performed with the legendary Jamaican guitarist Ernest Ranglin (Crosby’s uncle) at the 2003 WOMAD festival and moonlights as a member of Pop Idol’s backup band The Big Blue. Mr. Kinch launched his solo career with the April 2003 release in the UK and Europe of “Conversations...” on which he seamlessly fuses Charlie Parker with Q-tip in an original synthesis of straight ahead jazz with funky hip-hop and rap. The CD was released in the US in September 2004 and immediately reviewed by Mr. Ratliff in The New York Times who called Mr. Kinch's band “one of the best sounding new jazz groups I've heard lately.” Mr. Kinch pushed the envelope again with the October 2004 release in the UK and Europe of his first single, Jazz Planet (DUNESD001), a hip-hop take on what the world be like if jazz ruled the planet made possible by Dune Records and the 2004 Peter Whittingham Award for Jazz Innovation. Mr. Kinch is the recipient of the following awards in the UK: • 2004 BBC Jazz Awards for Best Instrumentalist & Best Band • 2003 Mercury Music Prize (UK) for An Album Of The Year • 2003 MOBO Award (UK) for Best Jazz Act • 2002 BBC Rising Star Jazz Awards • 2002 Montreux Jazz Festival International Young Saxophonist of the Year Award (White Foundation Prize) write your comments about the article :: © 2004 Jazz News :: home page |