Jazz: Kevin Figes – Turning Corners

Multi-instrumentalist, composer and film-maker Kevin Figes returns to the club to launch new album, Turning Corners, featuring Denny Ilett on guitar, Chris Jones on bass and Kasabian’s Ian Matthews on drums. The record follows two critically acclaimed releases (‘Wallpaper Music’ and ‘Changing Times’) which featured all original compositions.

“The idea behind ‘Turning Corners’ was to play tunes that I have loved since I was very young, and still revisit. There simply had to be some Beatles, Led Zeppelin, Soft Machine, Hemeto Pascoal etc involved. I didn’t necessarily go for the more obvious examples, simply because I chose my favourite tracks. I also didn’t want to rewrite them, and felt that the musicians would put enough in of themselves, which they certainly did. It was interesting interpreting sung lines on a sax or flute where the odd spot of vocals should be”

Kevin Figes began studying saxophone with Elton Dean and later attended the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, studying with Tim Garland. He had a notable association performing and recording with Keith Tippett. Since 2007 Figes has composed and produced many well-received recordings with his own jazz quartet. Recent work includes ‘Changing Times’ (2020) by the Kevin Figes Quartet, which was described as ‘A mind-expanding feast for the ears’ and received a 4* review from Dave Gelly in The Guardian, and ‘Wallpaper Music’ (2021) (with the addition of Brigitte Beraha on vocals) which was described as ‘A kaleidoscopic blizzard’ by John Fordham in his 4* review for Jazzwise. Other projects included 4 Sided Triangle (with Mike Outram), an Octet and the 15 piece big band ‘Resonation’. Figes has played at Ronnie Scott’s with Pee Wee Ellis and Fred Wesley, Bobby Shew and Denny Ilett’s Electric Lady Big Band, of which he is a member. He has also performed on the Park stage at Glastonbury with the music of Barry Gray and major festivals with This Is The Kit. His own quartet have performed nationally and broadcast live from Glastonbury Festival on Radio 3. Kevin was musical director for a series of concerts celebrating the life of Keith Tippett. Forthcoming work includes compositions for piano, use of experimental methods and found sounds, writing of lyrics in song form and exploring a range of genres including contemporary classical, jazz, free improvisation, folk and rock.