SHADOWLANDS

Inspired by a blend of early music, folk and plainchant Shadowlands weaves a form of contemporary chamber music rich in sonic textures. The three vibrant voices of the European creative music scenes, adept at the intersection of genres, agree to jump together into the unknown, into a repertoire where improvisation rubs shoulders with centuries-old melodies and original compositions. Thus the language of Kit Downes, an essential pianist of the new British scene, mixes with that of the Anglophile saxophonist and clarinetist Robin Fincker and the Irish singer Lauren Kinsella in a common desire to question slowness and good gestures. 

The weaving and singing melodies are surrounded by a halo of shimmering and moving sound material and little by little, the shadows stretch and come alive….  

“Ombres”, the trio's first recording, will be released on the BMC label in March 2024

PRESS QUOTES

"The performers gave these songs a new life, between adaptation and quest for an original essence. Robin Fincker, explains interpreting the shadows of these songs. These are the shadows to which Lauren Kinsella lends her voice, turning over the tunes and words as if to examine their seams, sometimes sliding towards original music and texts or even onomatopoeia, on the borders of contemporary music; Robin Fincker, between tenor saxophone and clarinet, Kit Downes constantly switching from Hammond organ to piano and vice versa, illuminating texts and melodies with abstract flames that they light as they go. We would have liked to invite Luciano Berio, composer of the famous Folk Songs, to discover these “shadows”." Franck Bergerot Jazz Magazine

"Lauren Kinsella sings folksongs from several ages, and has a powerful yet subtle way of shaping them, providing a framework around which the others can explore freely and go off on voyages of discovery. Kit Downes will always find the astonishing tone colours which lie dormant in an organ, either in a church or in this case a Hammond, and Robin Fincker a is subtle, inventive, thoughtful, classy player. There is already an album due out next spring on the Hungarian BMC label. I managed to blag a copy: it is a delight." Sebastian Scotney London Jazz News