Forget fusion, forget jamband; forget jazz, rock or funk, downtown or alternative; KCL lights it up - then leaves it on the playground for high-wire improvisation of the most shocking, grooving, dangerous, spontaneously composed kind.
Currently or formerly sidemen for The Black Crowes, David Bowie, Sting, Toto, Donald Fagen, Michael Brecker, Tedeschi/Trucks, Billy Cobham, John Mayer, Donny McCaslin, James Taylor, Chris Potter, Carla Bley, Steely Dan and hordes of other people just as good but not as famous, KCL - guitarist Wayne Krantz, drummer Keith Carlock and bassist Timothy Lefebvre - shatter norms and splinter conventions to get to the real stuff, the stuff underneath the day-to-day grinding accomplishments of familiarity and forgone conclusions; the rhythm-of-the-soul stuff, the states of particulate consciousness and re-estimation of identity, time and place - the stuff that actually matters: creation, unfolding in real-time, raw, beautiful, funny, ugly, transcendent, organic, ALIVE!
With cited inspirations including Miles Davis, James Brown, Sly Stone, Led Zeppelin, Prince, Hendrix, The Beatles, Debussy and Meshell Ndegeocello, KCL shows filter a music concréte composite of rock/electronic/funk/something.else.entirely, creating musical contours, terrains and belief systems that vary widely from performance to performance.
You may have caught the show on video, but you haven't seen KCL 'til you've seen it live - then seen it again to believe it. Come one, come all - this is not a show to be missed, even by the most jaded listener. KCL shreds its way through some of the tightest rhythm section adventurism to be found anytime, anywhere. Not boring, not clichéd. Not mundane, not expected.
Immediately following the tour on March 20th, Krantz will release Write Out Your Head , the record is, aside from the drums, almost entirely devoid of improvisation. The project transcends its own formalities and opens windows onto views both unfamiliar and resonating. Given the chance, these songs - bristling with content, energy, fantastic playing and inspiration - will get into your head, and your spirit.
KCL on tour NOW
2020-02-01, Iridium Jazz Club, New York, NY
2020-02-06, Sweetwater Music Hall, Mill Valley, CA
2020-02-07, Dazzle Jazz Club, Denver, CO
2020-02-08, Reggies Rock Club, Chicago, IL
2020-02-11, City Winery, Nashville, TN
2020-02-12, The Ardmore Music Hall, Ardmore, PA
2020-02-15, The Velvet Note, Alpharetta, GA
2020-02-16, Groundup Festival, Miami Beach
2020-02-18, Ronnie Scott's, London, UK
2020-02-19, Ronnie Scott's, London, UK
2020-02-20, Müpa Budapest, Budapest, Hungary
2020-02-21, Porgy & Bess, Vienna, Austria
2020-02-22, Bimhuis, Amsterdam, Holland
2020-02-23, LantarenVenster, Rotterdam, Holland
2020-02-24, G Livelab, Helsinki, Finland
2020-02-25, G Livelab, Helsinki, Finland
2020-02-26, M8-Liveclub, Mainz, Germany
2020-02-28, Jazz Dock, Prague, Cz
2020-02-29, Zig Zag Jazz Club Berlin, Berlin, Germany
