{"title":"Kit Downes","description":null,"products":[{"product_id":"light-from-old-stars","title":"Light From Old Stars","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eKit Downes\u003c\/strong\u003e, a Mercury prize-nominated pianist, presents his third album as a leader, capturing the magical and fantastic through earthy ideas.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eAfter meeting astrobiologist Daniella Scalice at the Cheltenham Science Festival, Downes became intrigued by the concept that the stars we see are often dead, and that stargazing is \"a form of time travel without moving\". This celestial scale may seem incomprehensible, but there are ways to understand it.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eInspired by ideas of scale and the meeting with Scalice, Downes found a strong conceptual framework for the music on \u003cem\u003eLight From Old Stars\u003c\/em\u003e. The pieces in the album explore the realms of the magical and fantastic through grounded and earthy ideas, all captured in complete, live takes without the use of editing.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eThis album marks Downes' first recording entirely with the quintet line-up, building upon the arrangements initiated on Quiet Tiger. The compositions are carefully structured with elements of chaos built in, reflecting Downes' diverse musical interests from early American blues masters to European classical music.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eReferences to pianists Paul Bley and Jan Johansson can be heard in the compositions, as well as the raw, urgent quality of blues from guitarists like Skip James, Blind Willie McTell, and Howlin' Wolf. The album's inspirations are escapist yet reflective of reality, with tracks like \"What's The Rumpus\" and \"Owls\" drawing from movies like Miller's Crossing and Twin Peaks.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eThe brief interlude \"Falling Dancing\" was inspired by a ballet performance, showcasing Downes' collaborations with visual artist Lesley Barnes to emphasize the connections with other art forms.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"No Label","offers":[{"title":"CD","offer_id":50439068647755,"sku":"362160","price":14.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0867\/1120\/6219\/files\/b7c83b32-59be-4abc-9752-6c6e0d34d962_thumbnail_4096.jpg?v=1726950765"},{"product_id":"dreamlife-of-debris","title":"Dreamlife of Debris","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eDreamlife of Debris\u003c\/em\u003e carries forward the story begun on Kit Downes’s \u003cem\u003eObsidian\u003c\/em\u003e (ECM, 2018), extending and developing its processes and core ideas. But where \u003cem\u003eObsidian\u003c\/em\u003e was (almost exclusively) a solo church organ album, part of Kit’s plan for \u003cem\u003eDreamlife\u003c\/em\u003e was to put the organ in a broader context, and also to bring the piano into the larger compositional picture.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eMusicians in the project are primarily players with whom \u003cstrong\u003eKit Downes\u003c\/strong\u003e has had long associations- saxophonist \u003cstrong\u003eTom Challenger\u003c\/strong\u003e, cellist \u003cstrong\u003eLucy Railton\u003c\/strong\u003e, drummer \u003cstrong\u003eSeb Rochford\u003c\/strong\u003e - and there is also a first musical encounter with Norwegian guitarist \u003cstrong\u003eStian Westerhus\u003c\/strong\u003e. \"\u003cem\u003eI was interested to see how bringing in different people would change the direction of the recording.\u003c\/em\u003e\"\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eThe album is drawn from sessions recorded at two UK locations- the 13th century church of St John the Baptist in Snape in the Suffolk countryside and St Paul’s Hall (a converted 19th-century church) at Huddersfield University - where the musicians arrived to variously interact with Downes. The instrumentalists meet, as Downes puts it, \"\u003cem\u003ein a space with no singular character\u003c\/em\u003e\", with a dream-like ambience being created through overdubs and collage.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eAlthough the players do not come together as an ensemble, their appearance as individuals in changing constellations influences the direction of the shape-shifting music triggered by Downes’s improvising, arranging, and composing.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003ePersonnel:\u003c\/strong\u003e Kit Downes (piano, organ), Tom Challenger (tenor saxophone), Stian Westerhus (guitar), Lucy Railton (cello), Sebastian Rochford (drums)\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"ECM","offers":[{"title":"CD","offer_id":50464518930763,"sku":"1078080","price":17.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0867\/1120\/6219\/files\/77a45b7c-365d-493b-b46f-4057743877d9_thumbnail_4096.jpg?v=1727275913"}],"url":"https:\/\/shop.roughtrade.com\/fr\/collections\/kit-downes.oembed","provider":"Rough Trade","version":"1.0","type":"link"}