After many years of collaboration, concerts, and recording sessions, performing as leaders, composers, and a rhythm section at the same time, as well as through our experience gained from encounters with many outstanding musicians, we have decided to start a duo project – music dedicated solely for double bass and drums, liberating these instruments from their typically purely rhythmic, supporting role.
Our inspiration have been the pure and timeless acoustic sound and a deep jazz sensibility that has always been very dear to us. The form of open improvisation becomes an inherent part of each composition constituting its inseparable whole, what certainly distances this project from common jazz patterns, giving it at the same time distinctive character.
It is very difficult to create a balance between composition and improvisation when it comes to the double bass and drums, in light of both the natural dynamics of these instruments, as well as their harmonic and structural limitations. We have achieved this harmony thanks to the unique structure of compositions, and by subjecting the improvisations to their elastic form.
Composer Asuka Kikitani was inspired by the vibrant nature of Minnesota to construct this gorgeous calendar cycle of percussive works. Bandcamp New & Notable May 30, 2023
An expansive and bold modern jazz journey filled with delightful details from guitarist/composer Keenan "FLACCO" Ruffin and friends. Bandcamp New & Notable May 10, 2022
Gerard Masters captures the looseness, magic, and swing of jazz in this second installment of the Composition Series. Bandcamp New & Notable Mar 5, 2020