Racer Session #497 | Kenji Lee | November 17, 2019
Hello, Racers!
This week we are thrilled to be hosting one of Seattle’s newest residents, Kenji Lee! Kenji is a saxophonist who came to this fair city of ours by way of Michigan, but ultimately has returned to the West Coast - having been raised in California. Kenji has already made his mark as a remarkable improviser, compose - currently performing frequently as a leader with Juarez - Lee - Alvarez and The Kenji Lee Quartet. Kenji has also worked as a sideman in many groups including Davy Lazar's ANTIGOAT and with soul musician, Allen Stone.
Kenji also just released a new record! You can listen to darkhorse: the superhero below. Read on for some words from Kenji on who he’ll be playing with, what music you might here, and what to expect for the jam session. We’ll see you at Cafe Racer at 8pm this Sunday!
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“It has been just over two months since I left Detroit, Michigan and settled into my new life here in Seattle. Since moving, I have been very fortunate to find a new community who has opened its arms with warmth, curiosity, and openness. I am so excited and humbled to finally debut my own compositions in this incredible city.
For my inaugural evening hosting the Racer Session, I’ve brought together a quartet featuring some remarkable musicians that I’ve met in my first few weeks: Ray Larsen on Trumpet, Abbey Blackwell on Bass, and Xavier Lecouturier on Drums. This lineup is essentially the West Coast iteration of project that I had in Detroit called “Clandestine Reality”.
Clandestine Reality began as an opportunity to examine polarizing political figures through a musical lense. The first collection of pieces for this band was inspired by specific political leaders/events that I deemed as unbelievably controversial, surreptitious, and/or deceitful (i.e. Rob Ford, Mao Zedong, Albert Cobo, and Donald Trump). Each of these figures attracted a wild, cultish following that divided their constituents and had cataclysmic effects on a multitude of communities.
At Racer, I’ll be performing a newer collection of pieces that examines the overarching narrative of these personalities. Each piece reflects on the rationale, motives, and common threads between these controversial figures. The music in this band juxtaposes extensive open, boundless, improvisations against much more precise, angular, through-composed sections. This can oftentimes get a bit chaotic, but ultimately, we will be constantly seeking freedom while playing within these forms.
For the open session, I encourage improvisers to seek “freedom in the chaos”. In any jam session setting (open/free, bebop, rock, etc), it’s very easy for uncertainty, discomfort, and insecurity to run rampant. Jam sessions are an eccentric melting pot of drastically different personalities, thoughts, ideas, and egos. Chaos will happen!!! However, I invite you to allow others (and you!!) to play out all ideas without judgement. Let the music go places that you’re not familiar with. If things seem out of your control: GOOD. Breathe; wait for the chaos to resolve itself. Sometimes it will, and sometimes it won’t - and that’s OK. Allow yourself to TRUST that somewhere there is “freedom in the chaos”.”
-KL