Kevin Figes - The Common & Other Short Stories

Hard to classify but this intriguing new album by British saxophonist and composer Kevin Figes crosses several genres, including contemporary jazz, contemporary classical, and experimental music. Featuring six solo piano pieces played by Steven Kings, each headed with sound intros, followed by four composed pieces incorporating manipulated sound samples, and voice (Track 8: 'Feeling Rough'), the overall impression is one of a soundtrack to a contemporary film. Kevin Figes: composition
Steven Kings: piano
Gracie Apricot Billington: voice
Fred Brodnax: blacksmithKevin Figes quote: The six little piano pieces which open this album are my first foray into writing for solo instruments. They were inspired in part by film music, Bella Bartok, and jazz ballads. Each piece is preceded by some found sounds which I recorded surreptitiously on Horfield Common, Bristol, near where I live. The two radio pieces reflect my childhood fascination with all the sounds in between the channels on transistor radios, together with a little processing. 'Feeling Rough' is pretty self-explanatory and continues my love of words/prose/lyrics. 'Blacksmith' comprises samples from a local blacksmith which have been organised and processed in Ableton software using chance principles derived from Stockhausen.