Two and a half years ago, British pianist, organist, composer and bandleader Kit Downes realised the first episode of his ‘Dr. Snap’ project for the ‘Reflex’ concert series at the Bimhuis in Amsterdam. Back then, he called together a number of instrumentalists from Europe who were friends of his to stage a large-scale improvisation with them, which cleverly alternated between a written-out template and free-flowing music. For Cologne Jazzweek, Downes, who is this year’s ‘Artist In Residence’ for the festival, is planning a sequel as ‘Snap II’. Compared to the Bimhuis project, Downes has slimmed down the line-up somewhat. This time, he has grouped some well-known soloists around his ‘Exhaust’ trio with the Berlin-based, Argentinian-born Camila Nebbia on tenor saxophone, his compatriot Andrew Lisle on drums and him on organ; together they boldly plunge into a torrential maelstrom of condensed sound clusters and fragmented melodies, buzzing grooves and pulsating rhythms.
Camila Nebbia – sax
Otis Sandsjo – sax
Ketija Ringa Karahona – fl
Marta Warelis – p
John Edwards – b
Andrew Lisle – dr
Kit Downes – org