Kit Downes is an award-winning British pianist, organist and composer. A BBC Jazz Award winner and Mercury Prize nominee, he records for ECM Records with acclaimed releases such as Obsidian, Dreamlife of Debris and Vermillion. Jazzwise calls him “one of the finest pianists of his generation”, while DownBeat praises his “considerable chops and flowing imagination.”
He performs internationally on piano, church organ and harmonium, both solo and with his bands ENEMY, Troyka and Elt. His collaborators include Squarepusher, Bill Frisell, Sofia Jernberg, Mica Levi and Andrew Cyrille. He also appears in duos and projects with Tom Challenger, Lucy Railton, Ben van Gelder and others.
As a composer, he has written for Cheltenham Music Festival, the London Contemporary Orchestra, Ensemble Klang, and more. His concert venues include the Elbphilharmonie Hamburg, Royal Albert Hall, Southbank Centre, BBC Proms and Flagey Brussels. According to Hamburger Abendblatt, “Kit Downes is the most impressive jazz pianist from England since John Taylor.”
He is a Fellow of the Royal Academy of Music in London, where he also teaches. He has twice been named 'Rising Star' in the DownBeat Critics Poll (Organ and Keyboard).