kevin figes

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CIRCULAR MOTION OUT NOW from Edition Records for £8.49 incl P and P

Kevin Figes was a late-comer to jazz. “I’d played guitar and sang with a Rock band but nothing apart from that. I saw an ad for sax lessons in Ray’s and that it was Elton Dean. I called him and he said, ‘Have you got an instrument?’ I said, ‘Not yet.’ He said, ‘Meet me in Pro Brass in Kentish Town tomorrow.’ I got there and Elton was trying these altos. He handed me one and said, ‘This will do you. Meet me tomorrow and you can have your first lesson.’”

Twenty years on and Kevin releases his first album, a record so fresh and confident, you wonder what held him back. A move from London to Bristol helped Kevin decide to turn pro, as did Elton Dean’s introduction to Keith Tippett. Kevin played in Keith’s Bristol workshop band and later joined his Big Band Tapestry. He also had lessons with Tim Garland, who persuaded him to take the post-grad course at the Guildhall, where he studied with Tim, Pete Churchill, Jean Toussaint and Simon Purcell.

The sounds you hear on Circular Motion are evidence of Kevin’s long musical journey. An admirer of saxophonists Chris Potter and Wayne Shorter, whose Lester Left Town features on the album, Kevin also cites Kenny Wheeler and Dave Holland as influences on his writing. Like these four, Kevin’s music has a lightness of touch that belies the subtleties and complexities that lurk within.

“I do like stuff that isn’t too impenetrable but has substance to its harmonies and rhythms. That’s what hits the spot with me. Circular Motion represents different aspects of my background, whether its playing freer things with Keith Tippett or the funk side of my playing and of the Bristol scene or my love of playing changes. I wrote this album with all that in mind.”

Circular Motion succeeds in covering those bases but does it through one man’s vision of his music. It’s a highly personal record but also a group performance, for Kevin’s been playing with pianist Jim Broomfield and Riaan Vosloo for several years. Amazingly Tim Giles only joined for this session, as the group convey remarkable levels of empathy and sensitivity to each other. Circular Motion flows like its title suggests. Lyrical, melodic music with a strong rhythmic sense fired by a shared love of Jazz. Knowing where you’re going means knowing where you’ve been. That hits the spot with me!

Circular Motion will be distributed throughout the UK by Harmonia Mundi.

Alto-saxophonist Figes – who studied with Elton Dean and Keith Tippett – has an inclination to hard, rhythmical swing, and a contrasting gift for composing memorable, sensitive tunes. It’s this combination of rich writing with an outstanding band that gives Figes’s solo LP such distinction. Independent on Sunday

“Figes is a gutsy but thoughtful saxophonist and a skilful composer…Overall, a lively, absorbing and attractively varied set from a fine band that should, given the evidence provided by this album, really deliver the goods live”. Vortex Jazz CD review

I play alto, sop and baritone sax and flute and alto flute. I've been running a quartet for a number of years and played up and down the country including Bebop club and Albert (bristol) 606 and Barbican (london) and Glastonbury. I used to run a big band called Ultrasound which recorded two cds and played QEH, Bracknell and Plymouth festivals. For many years I played flute and sax with Sirius B recording two cds and touring, including Jazz cafe and Montreux jazz festival. In 2001 , with inspiration and encouragement from Tim Garland, I attended the Guildhall Jazz course. Shortly after that I began touring and working with Keith Tippett (including a radio 3 broadcast from Norwich Festival and festivals in Portugal (Lisbon) and Canada). I also work with Jim blomfield's Latin Perspective, Andy Hague's Silverado, John-Paul Gard and the Dave Betts Quartet. In 2006 I toured with the Wales Jazz Composers Orchestra for which I contributed a piece. 2007 quartet gig highlights were abergavenny, cardiff, london (606), sherbourne, stratford-on-avon, swindon, bristol (bebop and old duke) and glastonbury festival including a live radio 3 broadcast. The trio played in monmouth and teignmouth festival. Other highlights included a gig with john critchinson, gigs with the dave stapleton big band and andy hague big band and a great new piece by keith tippett performed in the colston hall. The year ended with a recording of a new album with jim blomfield, riaan vosloo and the amazing tim giles on drums. 2008 saw gigs with Dave Stapleton Quintet at the Pizza Express (London) and Cheltenham and Coventry festivals. The CD came out on Edition records to good reviews. "Groovy Thing" was formed with Mike Willox and played at coronation tap and old duke. The Quartet played at Glastonbury and Swanage festivals. And I played Messian with Jim Blomfield and the Emerald ensemble at the colston hall. 2009 sees "resonation " a new 13 piece big band project take off, and also a jazz services tour for the Quartet (see gigs)