Izumi Kimura & Gerry Hemingway Duo

This duo began in 2016 as a series of residencies, rehearsals and performances in Ireland, and further evolved in 2018 in the context of a trio with bassist Barry Guy with the release of the recording “Illuminated Silence”. Both the duo and trio have since co-existed but it is the duo that has become a central platform for both players. There is by now a shared and well understood language between them that moves seamlessly between formal structures, spontaneous invention, as well as their unique interpretations of song. The release of “Kairos” in 2023 debuts this array of possibilities which continue to grow as a rich and varied performance platform for both musicians.

Writing for the WIRE about this release Bill Meyer summarizes.. "Dublin based Japanese pianist lzumi Kimura and Connecticut born, Switzerland based percussionist/vocalist Gerry Hemingway have recorded previously with Barry Guy, but Kairos is their first duo effort. While each brought a piece to this session, most of it is jointly credited, but it does not sound like a product of free improvisation so much as an investigation in how each can support the other's strengths. Even in free moments, the pianist is inexorably drawn to melodies, which Hemingway abets with complementary tonal lines on his vibes and drum kit. And Kimura, who combines preparations with conventional keyboard sounds, uses a staccato attack to reinforce the drummer's intricate constructions. lt's a complementary partnership." Bill Meyer / Jazz & Improv - The Wire October 2023

"Kairos, a duet with Hemingway, takes as its title an ancient Greek word meaning the “right time”, the “critical moment” or “opportunity”. It’s a motto for improvisers, and a defining idea on this very recording, along with possible corollaries, like the apt space or a notion of resonance. The duets are also dramatic and abstract, yet conversational, with Hemingway adding marimba, vibraphone and voice to his drumming. The concluding minute-long “Circadian Twilight” provides a moment of fleeting, evanescent beauty and makes for an apt conclusion to a remarkable program." by Stuart Broomer - New York City Jazz Record February 2024

"This duo is immensely well matched especially since the sound of the piano and assorted percussion often combine seamlessly as one sound/force.” Bruce Gallanter, Downtown Music Gallery

"An uncompromising, persuasive encounter from first to last.” Ian Patterson, All About Jazz - October 2023

"Kairos is a model of sympathetic and eventful improvisation, and an outstanding release." Andy Hamilton, Jazz Journal - October 2023

"Dublin based Japanese pianist lzumi Kimura and Connecticut born, Switzerland based percussionist/vocalist Gerry Hemingway have recorded previously with Barry Guy, but Kairos is their first duo effort. While each brought a piece to this session, most of it is jointly credited, but it does not sound like a product of free improvisation so much as an investigation in how each can support the other's strengths. Even in free moments, the pianist is inexorably drawn to melodies, which Hemingway abets with complementary tonal lines on his vibes and drum kit. And Kimura, who combines preparations with conventional keyboard sounds, uses a staccato attack to reinforce the drummer's intricate constructions. lt's a complementary partnership." Bill Meyer / Jazz & Improv - The Wire October 2023

"this duo has forged an effervescent and deeply engaging partnership. ‘Kairos’ demonstrates that music can link effortlessly across time, genres, and any preconceptions in the hands of the right performers.” Sammy Stein - Platinum Mind

"Both Hemingway and Kimura traverse regularly the permeable boundaries supposedly separating composer from performer, and the results of such multi-dimensional activity is readily apparent as piano and percussion in scintillatingly spacious dialogue send the intriguingly titled “Dendrochronology” wafting and shimmering into existence…. Best though, and a masterful programming choice, is the concluding “Circadian Twilight.” In a way, it returns to the disc’s opening aesthetic and distills it, but it also shares modal space with the preceding spiritual. It’s basically a descent, a quick burst of tone and timbre sloping gradually downward. As its diminuendo makes its shimmering way toward silence, there’s a sense of completion, a winning circularity that unifies a really fine and excellently recorded disc." Marc Medwin / Point of Departure (#84 Sept/Oct 2023)

"playing with our expectations, making us brood and delve into the silences of the afternotes and the physics of striking a note, filling a ticking silence in a vast universe.” Stephen Graham (Marlbank)

"a superb cohabitation whose perfect alchemy offers perfect cohesion.” Alain Dupeux Radio R E C

" ***** - Many wonderful and enchanting things happen when you let yourself drift in such an unstoppable tide. “ Eyal Hareuveni - Free Jazz Collective

For bookings and inquiries:

email: gerryhem |at| gmail |dot| com

email: izumikimura |at| gmail |dot| com