Artist: Patrick Kunka

Date of Release: 06/08/2009

Catalogue no: SA001

Label: ShredAhead Records

Price: £11.99

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Track Listing

Appearances by

, Leah Gough-Cooper

Patrick Kunka - drumset/composition
Leah Gough-Cooper - saxophones
Alan Benzie - piano
Dylan Coleman - bass

All compositions by Patrick Kunka

Aprox. Running Time: 50 Minutes
Produced by Patrick Kunka. Recorded Mix One Studios, Boston, MA. February 2009. Engineered and Mixed By Corey Tunnessen.

Reviews

24/02/2010 Jazzwise Magazine

"It's a bit early to be selecting a new-star album of the year, but this may well turn out to be it. Kunka, who hails from that ultra-hip jazz Mecca of Aberdeen, is a drummer and composer of outstanding promise. He and his similarly youthful Scots posse have amassed honours at Berklee and the New England Conservatory and appeared at jazz festivals in France, Switzerland and Panama in recent months. And yet they're almost unknown here. Prophets without honour in their own homeland, one might say. Though broadly of the Tony Williams school of drumming, Kunka can also contribute to a ballad performance with taste and sensitivity, as on "4am", Coleman's bass feature here. Equally impressive is the title track, one of those spare up-tempo themes that sound hip yet are easy to play and beg for a strong solo to suit. Altoist Gough-Cooper is the winner here, a stirring discovery of Kenny Garrett-like intensity and creativity. Pianist Benzie has the ethos of Hancock and Corea under his fingers and builds a sophisticated solo. Indeed there are no weak links in this astonishing young band. Read Kunka's webpage, track down a copy of his debut album on jazzcds.co.uk and enjoy. It may be a while before they play a club near you."

15/01/2010 Jack Massarik - The Evening Standard

The Evening Standard's CD of the Week
Patrick Kunka Quartet The Edge(Shredahead)*****

Born in Aberdeen, trained at Berklee and heard at Swiss, French and Panamanian festivals in recent months, Kunka is a dynamic drummer of the Anthony Williams type. He also writes well, supplying all the material for this impressive and underpromoted album, available via www.jazzcds.co.uk. Mode for Max, 4am and the title track are as stylish as his young soloists, which in the cases of pianist Alan Benzie, bassist Dylan Coleman and saxophonist Leah Gough-Cooper is saying something. The latter’s postmodern flights on alto and soprano are outstanding. It’s heartening to hear a British outfit of such skill, vigour and hippitude.

10/08/2009 Mike Butler - Metro

Drummer Patrick Kunka uses the classic hard-bop style as a starting point for excursions into modal jazz. He leads in a blazing way, as befits someone taught at the celebrated Berklee College of Music. A musical apprenticeship in his hometown of Aberdeen gave Kunka a grounding in diverse styles - from rock to Celtic music - but the US experience has brought out an aggression rarely seen in British Jazz.

His forcefulness certainly infects Leah Gough-Cooper, who carries a lot of weight as front-line soloist. With fine rhythmic agility and a neat harmonic sense, she has an urgent tone on alto-saxophone, Meanwhile pianist Alan Benzie rips through lightning runs, creates chordal explosions and swings with real vigour, and partner-in-rhythm Dylan Coleman, another Berklee graduate, is a tempestuous string bassist.

The group's debut album, The Edge, is certainly strong on energetic, uptempo melodies (Collider, Mode For Max and the title track), yet the beautiful ballads (4am, Free Spirit) make clear that real emotions can co-exist with technique.