Kemaca Kinetic at Shinjuku Pit Inn

June 18, 2023

Kenneth Dahl Knudsen – bass

Matias Fischer – drums

Casper Hajlesen – guitar

Guest: Kyoko Sato佐藤恭子 – Saxophones 

This contemporary urban jazz trio from Denmark (via Berlin) plays with boundless energy and a hip sense of fun. Their music sprang from a power trio format, one that spilled over the boundaries of that format at every chance.

The first set laid out their full, solid sound from the start. It was the kind of sound that fills every corner of the club. Their music encompasses feelings and textures all the way from feverish to introspective, and back again. Their music is influenced by club culture, whatever that might mean anymore, but was something much more sophisticated.

While Hajlesen’s nimble guitar work stood out at the center of the sound, Fischer’s drums and Knudsen’s bass were equal partners. The trio’s musicianship stays at a high level, mixing a hard, full sound with great fluidity. They shifted between moods and textures, but also kept a core sound wrapped with great energy.

“Esthernity,” off their most recent CD, “Zukunft,” (“Future”) was dedicated to Knudsen’s daughter, named Esther. The song was a wish for her to live in eternity. That’s no club song. It’s a love ballad, and the trio delivered it with refined delicacy and deep feeling.

Sato on saxophone helped focus the melodies on every song and delivered fine solos on each one. Her style fit especially well with tunes like “Zukunft,” tunes which were more melodic than rhythmic. The trio really opened up on this track from their latest album. It featured a start-stop offbeat rhythm that kept the music nicely unpredictable.

 “A Thousand Days,” written as a sort of paean to Berlin from far away after leaving. The intro featured cool guitar loops, driving deep bass work, and a thick layer of drums. The vibe as catchy, hip, and pleasing, as at home in a jazz club as a late-night underground club. The melody of certain tunes like “Tucked In” was lovely and soothing, a tender ballad, while others had a muscular, danceable rhythm. Somehow, magically, it all cohered.

The band finished with an Afrobeat song by Lionel Loueke “Freedom Dance,” the only non-original of the night, which was the perfect closer, funky and cool, and leaving the crowd energized. Like the title of their most recent album, “Zukunft,” the group has plenty of future ahead of them. We’ll see what they do next.