Jazz Articles about Soweto Kinch

Emma-Jean Thackray: Um Yang

by Chris May
July 25, 2020

Right now, in summer 2020, using new and recent releases as the yardstick, the two most exciting musicians on London's alternative jazz scene are trumpeters. One is Laura Jurd, whose recent To The Earth (Edition) is a high-water mark for her electro-acoustic band, Dinosaur. The other is Emma-Jean Thackray, whose EP Um Yang is also remarkable. Jurd is the longer established musician, having released three albums with Dinosaur since 2016. Thackray's first release came two years later, and she has ...

Soweto Kinch: A Singular Jazz Odyssey

by David Burke
August 10, 2017

Soweto Kinch was a curious teenager when an encounter with Wynton Marsalis impelled him on his own jazz odyssey. An odyssey characterised by the creation of dynamic new soundscapes in the spirit of the music's great innovators, on landmark albums such as A Life in the Day of B19: Tales of the Tower Block, The Legend of Mike Smith and Nonogram. “There is a point at which you can hear the music and not really be switched onto ...

Soweto Kinch: The Legend Of Mike Smith

by Bruce Lindsay
February 21, 2013

Once upon a time the C-word was in common usage. It isn't heard so much these days, but the older generation mustn't be lulled into a false sense of security, because the younger generation remains perfectly capable of using the word on occasions. This is one of those occasions, because Soweto Kinch's The Legend Of Mike Smith is very definitely a Concept Album--and it's quite a concept.Kinch is an alto saxophonist, rapper and composer: a two-time winner of ...

Soweto Kinch: A Life In The Day Of B19: Tales Of The Towerblock

by Chris May
September 14, 2006

British saxophonist Soweto Kinch polarised opinion to the max in 2003, with his jazz 'n' hip-hop debut, Conversations With The Unseen (Dune). Many older listeners hated it, regarding it as a betrayal of tradition of Judas-like proportions. Younger, more inclusive listeners loved it, welcoming it as, simultaneously, a reconnection with jazz's long-lost roots in urban street culture and a way forward into a brighter and more vigorous future.

The battle lines weren't wholly characterised by age and anticipated prejudice, however. ...

Soweto Kinch: Conversations with the Unseen

by AAJ Staff
January 30, 2005

Shortly after he released the RH Factor last year, trumpeter Roy Hargrove said, “They had me figured for a jazz guy. But I have roots in hip-hop and R&B. This album is just the opening of a door." On Dec. 7th at the Jazz Gallery, British alto player/rapper Soweto Kinch opened that door a little wider. On its debut album, Conversations with the Unseen , Kinch's band begins with an organic groove, while Kinch and a guest vocalist ...

Soweto Kinch: Soweto Kinch: Conversations With The Unseen

by Mark Sabbatini
January 13, 2005

The journey from disdain to serious respect takes about twenty seconds. It just requires two minutes to get there.Soweto Kinch opens Conversations With The Unseen with a hip-hop “welcome to the session" rap that might trick new listeners (guilty) into thinking a bunch of self-hyping doo-wop lies ahead. But the alto saxophonist literally blows that perception away seconds into the second track, storming his way through a set approaching the likes of Branford Marsalis and Chris Potter in ...

Soweto Kinch: Conversations With The Unseen

by AAJ Staff
July 3, 2004

Soweto Kinch, a young British saxophonist with Jamaican roots, has created quite a stir in Europe. Judging from this, his first CD, the raves are well-deserved. Conversations With The Unseen contains some attempts to merge jazz and hip hop, but it is primarily a showcase for Kinch, an exceptionally gifted jazz musician, and his taut, hard-swinging band.

Kinch is an astonishingly good player, especially for one still in his mid-20s. He has a gorgeous, round tone that fills the horn, ...