Jazz pianist Kit Downes has been steadily building a faithful following over the last few years but it was through his 2010 Barclaycard Mercury Prize nomination for “Golden” (Kit Downes Trio) that introduced him to Matt.
Having made contact with Kit about potentially doing a session, the issues with trying to do an impromptu acoustic take with a grand piano were evident! Fast-forward a few weeks and with an added stroke of luck, Kit was due to feature at the London Jazz Festival, performing with his expanded line up Kit Downes Sextet at The Clore Ballroom in London’s Royal Festival Hall.
Having just filmed Marques Toliver the night before, Matt and Joe were on a high when Kit made it possible for them to film one song during his set. With Joe’s sound equipment hooked into the main sound desk to capture all the musicians and Matt crouched down on the side of the stage, ready to pounce on the perfect moment, it was a very subtle nod from Kit that prompted Matt to capture "The Wizards" complete with Kit scratching the strings of his piano and individual improvisations by each of the musicians on stage – one chance to get it right and that’s exactly what he did.
Working with artist Phoenix Finlayson-Pugh, the stark black and white footage juxtaposed with the animated flashes and waves of paint across the screen reflect the experimental yet melodic, frantic and possessive qualities of the music and the improvised nature of the filming. Kit interestingly was reminded of Watership Down when seeing this session for the first time…
Kit Downes Sextet are touring the UK and Europe throughout March and April ahead of the launch of the next album “Quiet Tiger” (Kit Downes Trio) at Kings Place on 9th April.
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