Kit Downes Trio get political at The Verdict, Brighton

He’s retained frequent collaborator James Maddren on drums, but added bassist/writer/producer Petter Eldh to the mix. The results are explosive right from the start; after a brief introduction they launch into ‘Djinn’, an angular, through-composed piece that develops through a disorienting stream of off-beats into torrents of improvisation that showcase Downes’ extraordinarily rapid right hand. There’s a fiercely structured logic at work here, though at times the beat and key centre are so hard to pin down the results are akin to Cecil Taylor’s forbidding virtuosity.

‘Politics’ follows “an angry response to the current situation,” though as Downes wryly remarks “we’re in the Green heartland here tonight.” It’s hard to tell where the written passages blend into the improvisation, until Eldh takes a bass solo which demonstrates his formidable technique and distinctive rhythmic and melodic concept that’s a perfect fit. The music is full of sudden twists and unexpected silences; Maddren’s supernaturally subtle, complex drumming deliberately elides the pulse, so that the trio performs a kind of musical balancing act.

The second set features ‘Race The Sun’, a piece of breathtaking complexity inspired by Downes’ love of computer games. He leads the band with strangulated yelps, occasionally exchanging a grin with Petter; then the two of them start head-banging, caught up in the thunderous arrangement that does in fact recall the abstractions of prog metal as well as the more obvious comparisons to Phronesis or The Bad Plus. It’s next-level stuff. The lack of easily identifiable melody, tonal centre or groove make the emotional intention of this music sometimes difficult to assess; Petter’s contribution of a more meditative piece eventually builds into a fugue that’s as complex as the rest.

‘Children With Torches’ features Maddren’s seemingly impossible polyrhythms. The intensity and abstraction could make this an intimidatingly unapproachable experience, but the intimate, informal atmosphere of The Verdict means that by the second set, the band have relaxed sufficiently for Downes to be bantering with the audience, who respond by cheering him on. Tonight’s offering may be deliberately positioned at the cutting edge of European improvised music, but it’s also three young guys at the top of their game having fun.

– Eddie Myer

– Photos by Rachel Zhang