Jazz: Worldwide Wednesdays Series ~ Kairos 4tet

"Worldwide Wednesdays" is an occasional series where I feature artists that were born outside of America.

Today I would like to introduce you to a quartet that goes by the name of Kairos 4tet! (Yes, the "4" is an official part of the group's name.) The members are Adam Waldmann (saxophones), Ivo Neame (piano), Jasper Høiby (bass) and Jon Scott (drums).

"Formed in the spring of 2008 to play the original compositions of saxophonist Adam Waldmann, Kairos 4tet features some of the UK's most talented, young instrumentalists.

From ferocious grooves to plaintive, soaring melodies with an emphasis on rhythmically engaging, communicative lyricism - Kairos 4tet's collective spirit was recently put to "tape" for their debut album "Kairos Moment". With radio play including Jazz FM and Jez Nelson's BBC Jazz on 3, it is the opening account of a band already winning rave reviews." (excerpt from Kairos 4tet's Facebook Page) 

"The band's verve is considerable, and they have enough faithful, enthusiastic admirers to fill the club - and deservedly so, because they're a class act." Chris Parker, (The Vortex, BBC, Jazz Review)

"A luminous debut album from four young London musicians which, unexpectedly, affirms the eternal verities of acoustic jazz. Supple rhythms, strong melodies, inventive harmonies, flowing improvisation...it's all here and it bucks the trend." (AllAboutJazz.com)

I became aware of Kairos 4tet on Twitter in 2009. As with a lot of the musicians that I "meet" on there, I surf around the Web to find out more about them. First, I see if they have a website; then I check out any reverbnation.com, artistdata.com or Facebook pages that exists, and lastly, I go to YouTube to see if any videos are available.

You know how you can instantaneously like the "vibe" of some musicians? That's how it was with me when I first saw the videos that I embedded into this post. The video below is of Adam Waldmann soloing on Joe Henderson's "Inner Urge".

Their influences are many of the artists that I have in my music collection: Avishai Cohen, The Police, Meshell Ndegeocello, E.S.T., Brian Blade, John Coltrane, A Tribe Called Quest, Kenny Wheeler, The Roots, Dave Holland, Joni Mitchell, Jan Garbarek, Wayne Shorter, Bob Dylan, Julian Arguelles and D'Angelo.

Kairos 4tet cohesively creates music that I enjoy listening to. It doesn't have to "grow" on me. I can only imagine where they will be 5-10 years from now. Hopefully, they will continue to make music & albums together no matter how many other numerous projects they work on.

Kairos 4tet's Upcoming Events:

• Wednesday, August 4th, 8:00 pm
• 04/Aug @ City Arts & Music Project
• City Arts & Music Project: 70 City Road, London, UK (MAP)
• City Arts & Music Project in London, - www.thecamplondon.com

• Friday, August 6th, 10:00 pm
• 06/Aug @ Brecon Jazz Festival
• Brecon Jazz Festival: Brecon, UK (MAP)
• Brecon Jazz Festival in Brecon, - Theatr Brycheiniog

• Saturday, August 7th, 12:00 pm
• 07/Aug @ Brecon Jazz Festival
• Brecon Jazz Festival: Brecon, UK (MAP)
• Brecon Jazz Festival in Brecon, - Roland Stage, Christ College

• Wednesday, November 17th, 5:00 pm
• 17/Nov @ Barbican Centre
• Barbican Centre: Silk Street, London, EC2Y 8DS, WSM (MAP)
• Barbican Centre in London, WSM - Freestage before Charles Lloyd as part of the London Jazz Festival

• Sunday, November 21st, 7:00 pm
• 21/Nov @ The Forge
• The Forge: 3-7 Delancey Street, London, NW1 7NL, UK (MAP)
• The Forge in London, - London Jazz Festival

Are you in the UK? Have you had the opportunity to see them live yet? If not, I hope that you will be able to see them perform soon!

 Take care ~