Jazz musicians Bruno Heinen and James Kitchman will bring their unique blend of music for this week's Lunchtime Concert. Here, pianist Bruno shares his musical journey and how their duo came about.
You've been playing piano since the age of four, has music always been a big part of your life?
“Yes, music has always been a way of life for me. I come from three generations of classical musicians on both sides. We didn't have a television growing up, I spent most of my time at the piano.
“My parents are both string players, in the 70s they were in contemporary classical music circles with composers such as Berio and Stockhausen. My father was one of the co-founders of the Birmingham Contemporary Music Group and my mother later became a specialist in Baroque and Classical performance practice, performing, recording and writing editions for Wiener Urtext and Bärenreiter.”
You compose music yourself, can you tell us where you draw your inspiration from?
“This mix of music from Bach to Bartók was always in the house, and has continued to inform my jazz composition and improvising.
“I was introduced to the world of jazz as a teenager by my uncle, jazz pianist Johannes Heinen, during a trip to Koln. He gave me a disc, Sunday at the Village Vanguard by The Bill Evans Trio and A Love Supreme by John Coltrane, and these records changed my life.”
Your music has been played on radio, how does this feel?
“I generally don't like listening back to myself, but when a radio presenter has specifically chosen a piece of yours and curated it on a program, it's a lovely feeling.”
You've played some incredible venues and festivals, which has been your favourite?
“Playing at Babylon in Istanbul with the late great Turkish clarinetist Selim Sesler and the incredible Palestinian singer Reem Kelani was certainly a highlight. I have also recently performed a premier of one of my works at Wigmore Hall which was pretty special.”
This week you'll be playing your Lunchtime Concert with guitarist James Kitchman, how did you meet and work together?
“James came to me for a lesson in 2017 after meeting at a gig, I had nothing to teach him, but we had a wonderful time playing together and became good friends. We forged a very strong musical bond during a monthly residency in one of London’s subterranean jazz clubs.
“I remember the first gig together, we opened with Thelonious Monk’s composition Bemsha Swing, and even though I had my back to James, and with no prior count in, we began the piece together in perfect unison. Since then, we have recorded our duo album Rain Shadows, and worked together on Kitchman’s album First Quartet, which received critical acclaim following its release last year. James has also appeared as a guest with my group The W in festivals here and in Europe. More recently, we have performed regularly with vocalist Heidi Vogel of The Cinematic Orchestra, and recorded our forthcoming album as a trio together.”
Can you share some of the pieces you'll be playing when you come to Chelmsford Cathedral, and how you decided on your repertoire?
“We will be performing two pieces of each of ours from our album Rain Shadows, alongside some freely improvised introductions to these works.
“As well as our originals, we have decided to play three works by jazz greats written for peace. There will be Horace Silver's Peace, Peace Piece by Bill Evans, and Ornette Coleman's work also entitled Peace.”
You can watch their Lunchtime Concert at midday on 27 June. Tea and coffee will be served at 11.30am.
Find out more about their work at brunoheinen.com and jameskitchman.com
Our free Lunchtime Concerts take place in the Cathedral and we have an exciting and varied programme of musicians who visit our beautiful building to perform throughout the year.