Ambrose Akinmusire guests on Alex Koo’s Blame It On My Chromosomes
The witty and extravagant European jazz of Belgian-Japanese pianist and vocalist Alex Koo we were much taken by even bearing in mind the arid atmosphere encountered in a massive hangar type exhibition space at Jazzahead in 2023.
Better by far was the chance today all this time on to take a quick listen to Koo’s new album which is to be released in early-2025.
We certainly recommend the lead-off track ‘Slowly’ and the whole album is full of driving energy, formidable flow and bags full of improvisatory ingenuity that harnesses a lot of trio fire power and yes those quirky vocals play their part.
To be issued by W. E. R. F.
With double bassist Lennart Heyndels and drummer Dré Pallemaerts on the album which is entitled Blame It On My Chromosomes to be issued by the Bruges based W. E. R. F. Records, US trumpet icon Ambrose Akinmusire features on 2 tracks.
”The only way not to spiral into depression as a jazz musician nowadays is to vent and lose yourself in the music.”– Alex Koo
Koo (born in 1990 – real name Alex Koo Derudder) is the son of a Belgian missionary sent to Japan in the 1970s and a Japanese peace activist.
He hails from West Flanders in Belgium, studied at conservatories in Amsterdam and Copenhagen and later in New York.
W.E.R.F will release Blame It On My Chromosomes on February 7, 2025