JOHN CARROLL KIRBY ANNOUNCES ALBUM + DROPS VID W/ MAC DEMARCO, KERWIN FROST

JOHN CARROLL KIRBY ANNOUNCES ENSEMBLE ALBUM SEPTET  WATCH THE VIDEO FOR “RAINMAKER” STARRING MAC DEMARCO, KERWIN FROST, COLA BOYY, AND EDDIE CHACON HERE

Photo credit: Angela Suarez Pianist, producer, and composer John Carroll Kirby has announced a new album Septet to be released June 25th via Stones Throw Records. In September 2019, Kirby brought the seven-piece together to perform at LA’s Blue Whale and the energy of the performance became the impetus for the record marking Kirby’s return to ensemble playing. The musicians — Kirby (keyboards), Deantoni Parks (drums), Tracy Wannomae (woodwinds), JP Maramba (bass), Nick Mancini (mallets), Logan Horne (woodwinds), and David Leach (percussion) — laid the album down live in just a few days at 64 Sound Studios in Los Angeles - the result is natural and spontaneous.  Today, watch the first visual for “Rainmaker”, a video that pays homage to Womack & Womack’s classic ‘Teardrops’. Starring several musicians from the Septet ensemble, along with special guests Mac DeMarco, Eddie Chacon, Cola Boyy and comedian Kerwin Frost, the video lightheartedly dramatizes the characters Kirby has encountered over his long career as a collaborator and studio musician: “the egomaniacal producer, the eager engineer, the snobby record exec, the random guy in the corner, the musicians feeling themselves.  “Visually, I wanted to play with the chaos of 70s/80s jazz fashion: bands like Weather Report, Miles Davis's constantly rotating cast. Musicians dressed themselves with a strong sense of individuality while maintaining a cohesive look — a theme I also aim to achieve musically on Septet.” Kirby’s music always seems to come at the right time though it’s not intentional. My Garden, his Stones Throw debut, and his subsequent surprise album Conflict, were geared toward introspection and solitude both of which came as the world shut down due to the pandemic. Septet is more outward and arrives at a moment when the world is beginning to open back up and when the Los Angeles jazz scene is thriving, with artists like Sam Gendel, Jamire Williams, and Carlos Niño at the vanguard of an ever-shifting sound. It’s a record inspired by the city’s nature and Kirby’s interest in animism, and how these intersect with the modern urban environment.  Stream ‘Rainmaker’ and preorder Septet here: www.sthrow.com/johncarrollkirby

Septet Tracklisting Rainmaker P64 By My Side Sensing Not Seeing Swallow Tail Weep Jubilee Horns The Quest of Chico Hamilton Nucleo (Boy From the Prebiotic Birth) FOR MORE ON JOHN CARROLL KIRBY INSTAGRAM LINKTREE