Kit Downes is a British jazz and classical composer, pianist, and organist, known for a clean playing style and bell-like sound in experimental, modal, and post-bop settings. His compositions lean heavily on polychromatic investigation and timbral discipline. He also plays cello. He began his career as a founding member of the jazz group Troyka, and is a first-call sideman who has worked alongside Gilad Atzmon, Ben Lamdin, and Seb Rochford, among many others. He led a jazz piano trio for 2009's Quiet Tiger, which was nominated for a Mercury Prize. 2013's Light from Old Stars criss-crossed modern jazz, vintage Delta blues and global rhythms. His 2018 ECM debut, the solo Obsidian, showcased his solo skills on church pipe organs in original compositions, folk songs, and improvisations. In 2021 he released two vanguard classical duet outings: Premonitions of the Unbuilt City with pianist and composer Matt Rogers, and Subaerial with cellist Lucy Raiton. Downes issued the piano trio offering Vermillion for ECM in March 2022.

Downes is a formally trained musician. He attended Norwich School, the Purcell School, and the Royal Academy of Music. His first recorded appearances were as a guest with Empirical on their self-titled debut in 2007. Produced by Courtney Pine, it was named jazz album of the year by Jazzwise and Mojo. In 2008, Downes was the winner of the BBC Jazz Award in the category of Rising Star. Troyka, a flexible trio with guitarist Chris Montague and drummer Joshua Blackmore, was founded that same year and cut their initial self-titled date for Edition in 2009. That same year, Downes also recorded a duo album with saxophonist Tom Cauley for Impure, and released his first trio date as a leader (with bassist Calum Gourlay and drummer James Maddren, with whom he had been playing since their school days at the Royal Academy in 2005). Entitled Golden, it was shortlisted for Great Britain's Mercury Prize. He followed it with Quiet Tiger, which augmented his trio with a cellist and a saxophonist. In 2012, he co-led the Neon quartet with Sulzmann, issuing the album Subjekt on Edition. Troyka's sophomore outing Moxxy appeared as well. 2013 was prolific: Downes issued two solo piano EPs -- both in digital-format only, a pair of leader dates including Light from Old Stars with a quintet on Basho, and Live at the 2013 Cheltenham Jazz Festival with the 18-piece Troykestra. He also played on Nostalgia '77's Journey Too Far. Over the next year, Troyka toured festivals as well as playing regular gigs in London, and performed in concert with a number of other outfits. In 2015, they resumed recording. Troyka's Ornithophobia was acclaimed by the British press as one of the best jazz outings of the year. Downes also made his first appearance on ECM as a member of Thomas Stronen's band for Time Is a Blind Guide. In 2017, Downes and saxophonist Tom Challenger released Vyamanikal, a duo improvisational album cut in various churches around England the previous year. 

This set was a precursor to his ECM leader debut, Obsidian. Performing (mostly) solo on various pipe organs in November of 2016, Downes recorded originals, folk songs, and improvisations in two churches in Suffolk and the Union Chapel in London. Challenger guested on the track "Modern Gods." It was released in January 2018. A follow-up, Dreamlife of Debris, arrived on the label in 2019 and found Downes playing both piano and church organ. The album again featured Challenger, as well as guitarist Stian Westerhus, cellist Lucy Railton, and drummer Seb Rochford. 

In 2021, Downes and Raiton teamed up for the duet offering Subaerial on SN Variations, while the pianist released another duet offering in Premonitions of the Unbuilt City with pianist and composer Matt Rogers independently. For 2022's Vermillion, Downes assembled a trio with Swedish bassist and composer Petter Eldh and English drummer James Maddren. The set included five tunes each by the pianist and bassist, and a cover of Jimi Hendrix's "Castles Made of Sand." ~ Thom Jurek

Kit Downes

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