Kit Downes Trio - Quiet Tiger ★★★★

Rec. 2010

He was being hailed as the new piano sensation a couple of years back when the last one, Gwilym Simcock, had barely arrived. And when Downes’ 2010 debut Golden was short-listed for the Mercury prize last year it might well have been a case of “too much too young”. But as with Simcock, Downes is intent on taking the long view by using his gifts resourcefully and patiently fi nding his own voice. Quiet Tiger, his second album, reveals he’s already turned a corner in this respect. This is a more assertive statement than Golden as well as being one that takes more liberties with genre boundaries, following in the footsteps of recent recordings by the likes of US pianists Brad Mehldau and Aaron Parks.

As with the latter pair’s fairly recent efforts, Downes also augments his trio for this new set; setting up the reeds (James Allsopp) and cello (Adrien Dennefeld) in roles that open up new sonic possibilities for the band rather than just adding a few more solo instruments. Some excellent writing here from ‘The Wizards’ in which Downes gets into freer, choppier waters with the help of Allsopp’s Coltrane-charged virtuosity through to the fl oaty time ‘...With a View’, that echoes Miles’ In a Silent Way period, while the Mehldau-like ‘Fonias’ and ‘Attached’ possesses a less-is-more furtive cinematic tension. For all Downes’ virtuosity and high pedigree, Quiet Tiger is a triumph of feeling over technique.

Selwyn Harris