K-MUSIC 2023: Soojin Suh Chordless Quartet x Kit Downes
EFG London Jazz Festival: Soojin Suh Chordless Quartet x Kit Downes
SUN 12 NOV 19:45 | Purcell Room, Southbank Centre
Drummer Soojin Suh, recognised for her impressive collaboration with MOBO-nominated saxophonist Camilla George, is returning to the stage at the 10th anniversary of the K-Music Festival. This time, she is teaming up with her fellow ECM artist Kit Downes along with her quartet. Explore new sonic landscapes through their improvisational interplay, blending rhythmic complexity and melodic ingenuity. This show is presented in partnership with the EFG London Jazz Festival.
Soojin Suh Chordless Quartet
Members:
Soojin Suh / Drums
Soojung Lee / Alto Saxophone
Hacheol Song / Tenor & Soprano Saxophone
Younghoo Kim / Acoustic Bass
Soojin Suh, a prominent experimental drummer from Korea, began her musical journey at age 5. After graduating from the City College of New York, she established herself as a leading figure in the industry. With the Chordless Quartet, Soojin Suh explores new realms of freedom and creativity by deliberately omitting polyphonic instruments like the piano, which traditionally provide harmonic accompaniment. This unique approach allows for a heightened exploration of individual instrument voices within the ensemble.
- "Soojin Suh crafts beautiful melodies and arrangements that leave room for improvisation and feeling. Colorist is a beautiful album with unique colours.”- DÆV TREMBLAY (Can This Even Be Called Music)
In recognition of their exceptional talent, the Soojin Suh Chordless Quartet were selected as the Showcasing Artist for jazzahead! in 2021, garnering widespread acclaim and attention. Their recent works under this project, including the critically acclaimed albums "Strange Liberation" (2018) and "Roots to Branches" (2021), showcase their artistic growth and musical evolution.
Kit Downes
He is a BBC Jazz Award-winning, Mercury Music Award-nominated solo recording artist for ECM Records. Kit Downes is regarded as one of the 'most outstanding British improvisers of his generation'—through his organ and piano recordings for ECM Records, as well as his numerous collaborations with other musicians, writers, and artists.
- “It testifies to his world-class stature” (The Guardian)
- “Considerable chops and flowing imagination” (Downbeat)
- "An exceptional soloist” (Wormser Zeitung)
- “Kit Downes is the most impressive jazz pianist from England since John Taylor” (Hamburger Abendblatt)
Kit Downes has received two 1st place awards in Downbeat's Critics Poll for the Rising Star in Organ and Keyboard categories. His albums Obsidian, Dreamlife of Debris, and Vermillion, released under ECM records, have garnered significant critical acclaim.
He has written commissions for the Cheltenham Music Festival, London Contemporary Orchestra, Ensemble Klang at the ReWire Festival, the Scottish Ensemble, Cologne Philharmonie, and the Wellcome Trust. In 2017, Kit wrote 52 piano pieces for his right hand only after injuring his left hand, composing one piece for each day of his recovery.
Kit Downes performs solo pipe organ and solo piano concerts, and collaborates with saxophonist Tom Challenger, cellist Lucy Railton, composer Shiva Feshareki, and the band 'ENEMY.' He is currently working with violinist Aidan O’Rourke, composer Max de Wardener, and in an organ trio with Reinier Baas and Jonas Burgwinkel. He teaches at the Royal Academy of Music in London, where he studied and now holds a Fellowship.
Additionally, one of his bands, 'ENEMY,' will release a new album in September on We Jazz Records, and he recently recorded a duo album with Norma Winstone for ECM Records.
