Kurtis Li - In Bloom (2024) [Official Digital Download 24/96]

Having spent years amidst Hong Kong’s live music circuit as a keen performer from his late-teens, Li’s burgeoning affections for jazz ended up taking him across the world. Having studied in the prestigious Spanish (Valencia) branch of the Berklee College of Music, Li boasts a Masters of Music in Contemporary Performance that has ultimately helped shape his music to encompass more global perspectives and ideologies within his own compositions.

With strong affections for the wide breadth of Brazilian music and classical stylings that have gone on to influence his own playing, Li’s ‘In Bloom’ proves to offer a sublime perspective of all the experiences, achievements and accolades amassed since leaving Hong Kong. A finalist of the Thailand International Jazz Conference Composition Competition in 2021 and semi-finalist of Smietana International Jazz Guitar Competition in Poland (2023), Li’s successes have paved the way for a debut album that is bold in its conception and exquisite in its delivery.

Now based in London, it’ll be fascinating to see whether the city’s revered take on contemporary jazz – which finds itself steeped within influences ranging from broken beat, club culture and afrobeat – will go on to inspire Li through further iterations of his music and subsequent releases.

‘In Bloom’, however, is certainly not short of its own inspirations, as already mentioned. The album’s seven tracks inspire an engaging narrative, in many ways, through Li’s own adventures and travels leading up to the album’s release – from the noir jazz of the aptly-named ‘Night Song’ to the neo-classical textures that adorn ‘New Moon’.

UK vocalist Sarah Dowling features on three of the album’s tracks including ‘Fade Away’, ‘Light’ and ‘Blossom’ adding an ethereal dimension to each number and proving a more-than-worthy companion for Li’s playing. It is perhaps a shame that Li’s standalone single from last year, ‘Dandelions’ (featuring Cecilia Barra & María Gil), didn’t make the album’s final tracklist as that too proved another lush track to Li’s name but it is also a track that would be worthy of listening to in conjunction with ‘In Bloom’.

Kurtis Li’s debut album proves a credit to the years of study, travel and dedication that the guitarist has put into his music reaching a wider audience. Charmingly wearing his inspirations and influences openly on his sleeve, ‘In Bloom’ is very much Kurtis Li’s love letter to jazz. (Imran Mirza, twistedsoulmusic org)

Tracklist:
01 - New Moon
02 - Ripples
03 - Nightsong
04 - Fade Away
05 - Light
06 - Lilac
07 - Blossom


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