Line-up
James Kitchman – guitar
Bruno Heinen – piano
About
Musical synergy was evident from the first two notes of Thelonious Monk’s ‘Bemsha Swing’ that were played by guitarist James Kitchman and pianist Bruno Heinen without any count-in, prior discussion, or eye contact. This was the opening night of a monthly residency held at Kansas Smitty’s jazz bar in East London in 2017.
The duo has since developed a common improvisational language which takes influence from the chronology of great guitar/piano duos in jazz: Jim Hall and Bill Evans through to Fred Hersch and Julian Lage.
Their debut album ‘Rain Shadows’ – a carefully balanced brew of original compositions and improvisations is due for release in the new year.
Photo credit: Phelan Burgoyne
INSTRUCTIONS FOR AUDIENCE MEMBERS – PLEASE READ
Welcome to the Vortex. Although the government is relaxing its Covid restrictions on July 19th 2021 the Vortex will continue to operate measures to protect users of the premises.
Please note the following:
- We ask you not to attend gigs if you have or think you may have any Covid-19 symptoms. If you can’t make a gig because you have to self-isolate then just get in touch by filling out this form and we’ll give you a voucher for another gig.
- We will ask you on entry to sign in for NHS Test and Trace either using the NHS Covid app or manually
- There will be no standing at gigs. Everyone who books a ticket will be allocated a seat, but we cannot guarantee that you will have a table.
- Orders for drinks and snacks will be taken and paid for using the Butlr app which you can download on arrival. (If you do not have a smartphone then your order will be taken at the table and you can make a contactless payment. We do not accept cash.)
- We ask that everyone wears a mask when moving around inside the building.
- Automatic hand sanitiser stations are provided at various places within the building and we encourage regular use of hand sanitiser.
- Full details of the measures that we are taking to prevent transmission of Covid are set out in our risk assessment and management plan which can be found on our website.