Sebastian Rochford / Kit Downes: A Short Diary

London-based drummer Sebastian Rochford (aka, Seb) and pianist Kit Downes have a long working history but have recorded only once as a duo on the EP Live @ The Vortex (Loop Collective, 2012). They reunite on the poignant and cerebral A Short Diary. Rochford began his relationship with ECM Records as part of the Andy Sheppard-led Trio Libero (2012). He led a Mercury Prize-nominated experimental jazz band called Polar Bear and played with Sons of Kemet, David Byrne, Brian Eno, Herbie Hancock, and Patti Smith. He has led the band Pulled by Magnets since 2018. Downes has recorded three acclaimed albums on the ECM label. He frequently tours throughout Europe and the U.S. playing piano, church organ, and harmonium. He has worked with Thomas Strønen and Django Bates and written commissioned works for Cologne Philharmonic, and BBC Radio among others.

Collaborators for more than a decade, Rochford and Downes compiled shared material as a duo in 2015 but decided not to record those compositions. A Short Diary is composed by Rochford with the exception of "Even Now I Think of Her" which was written by his father, Gerard Rochford, a Scottish Poet Laureate, who passed away in 2019. Sebastian Rochford describes the music, written in honor of his father, as feeling "like an extension of what we had started before."

Rather than reflecting the sense of a tribute, Rochford's pieces, as implied by some of the titles, reveal a personal catharsis. "This Tune Your Ears Will Never Hear" is melancholic; Downes' very individual method evokes emotional misgivings and then finishes with a brief dramatic flash. Similarly, "Communal Decisions" and the piano solo "Night of Quiet" barely rise above a whisper. Both pieces exist in minimalistic spaciousness but Rochford and Downes let in enough light to place music over mood. "Love You Grampa" is more up-tempo, with the duo adding texture and animation and providing a bridge to the more multifaceted closing tracks. "Silver Light" calls to mind the spellbinding spiritualism of Downes' work with Tomas Challenger on the duo recording Wedding Music (Loop Collective, 2013).

Despite a conspicuous wistful quality, A Short Diary has an unmistakable warmth. Downes frames Rochford's compositions penetratingly, while the drummer's work is characterized by subtlety, understatement, an effortless flow, and a unique rhythmic sensibility.