Lewis Wright & Kit Downes
"This is beautifully executed chamber jazz of the highest order,” wrote London Jazz News when reviewing Lewis Wright and Kit Downes’ 2018 debut album, Duets.
Both award-winning, internationally recognised musicians in their own right, vibraphonist Lewis and pianist Kit are regarded by critics as one of the most virtuosic and original duos in recent years.
The vibes/piano sound is both intimate and cool., and from exhilarating up-tempo improvising to lyrical ballads, Lewis and Kit explore a landscape of music that blurs the boundaries between the scored and the improvised.
While Gary Burton and Chick Corea’s classic Crystal Silence album can draw comparison, with their Duets album these precociously talented young musicians have reached a degree of instrumental mastery and ventured beyond.
A composer influenced by artists such as Chick Corea, Steve Swallow, Gary Burton and Mike Gibbs, Lewis knows how to write tunes that are both launch pad and docking station for improvisation, and has a true composer’s sense of when less is more.
The recipient of various awards, including Ensemble of the Year in the 2016 Parliamentary Jazz Awards with Empirical (with whom he has composed and recorded four albums and two EPs), Lewis was also awarded the Worshipful Company of Musicians prize in 2011.
A musician who has performed internationally at venues such as the Sydney Opera House and the Royal Albert Hall, Lewis has been a featured soloist with Wynton Marsalis and the Jazz at Lincoln Centre Orchestra.
ECM recording artist Kit was nominated for a 2010 Mercury Music Prize, plus a BBC Jazz Award and a British Jazz Award, for his own albums, and tours regularly with his groups ENEMY and Troyka.
In 2013 and 2015 Kit was nominated in the Rising Star category in Downbeat magazine, and in 2014 won the Best Album Award at the Parliamentary Jazz Awards.
Lewis Wright (Vibraphone), Kit Downes (Piano).
"His intelligent soloing is consistently impressive, and his voicings bring an intriguing range of colour and texture." – The Scotsman on Lewis Wright.
"Spellbindingly virtuosic . . . scene-stealing." – Financial Times
"Downes' command of melody, texture, colour and nuance draws you totally into his sound world." - The JazzMann
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Tickets £14 / £12 Concessions. Students £6
Jazz Express Offer: Book for any three gigs and get tickets for just £10 each!
Doors open 7pm, starts 7.30pm.
