Kazemde George via Matrix

Kazemde George I CURATE

Network Node

Name: Kazemde George
City/Place: Brooklyn, NY
Country: United States
Hometown: Berkeley, California

CURATION

from this node by: Matrix

Current News

What's Up? "What is most successful about I Insist is an insistence of music as not simply technical proficiency, but as a spiritual plane to consider what is at stake in imagining and remembering who we are."
★★★★
— Joshua Meyers, Downbeat

“For the young, Brooklyn-based tenor saxophonist Kazemde George, to insist doesn’t necessarily mean raising the volume or pushing idiosyncrasy … what George insists upon most — from himself and his bandmates — is clarity: Melody is never sacrificed to flair or crossfire, even as the momentum builds.”
— Giovanni Russonello, New York Times

"This is a strong debut from a musician and composer who has a lot of potential."
— Mike Shanley, JazzTimes

"Each piece deserves attention as does the playing of these musicians, all new to me, temperate in style here but each with an undertow of intriguing creativity."
— Peter Vacher, Jazzwise

“Kazemde George is a tenor saxophonist, composer and scholar presently poised for a breakthrough with the jazz public … His soulful new debut … combines an easy grasp of melody and a swinging foundation with some jostling ideas about cultural identity in the Black diaspora.”
— Nate Chinen, WBGO, Take Five

"An extremely poised and assertive statement by the Brooklyn-based saxophonist ... an exceptionally well-crafted collection of contemporary jazz compositions and performances."
— Textura

"What a pleasant surprise that the artist who also gives tribute to the wide ranging likes of John Coltrane and Joao Gilberto creates an album that is filled with a Lester Young-toned tenor and sublime modern sounding soulful themes. ... This is an album that is both timeless and modern."
— George W. Harris, Jazz Weekly

“George holds everything together through the consistency of his writing, the melodic flair of his improvisation, and his ability to execute a vision through a core group of musicians. An auspicious debut, I Insist deftly shifts George from the status of valued sideperson to confident leader.”
— Michael Toland, The Big Takeover

"The music, often swinging even as it smolders, conveys something about George’s bond with the jazz tradition, as well as his firsthand research in Afro-Cuban traditions. And it introduces a smart young band with Sami Stevens on vocals, Isaac Wilson on piano and Wurlitzer, Tyrone Allen II on bass and Adam Arruda on drums.”
— Nate Chinen, WBGO Fall Preview

"Beautifully engineered, these mellow pieces form a crystal clear pond of dive-right-in ambiance. George is definitely a sax player to watch, as his terrific soloing attests, and vocalist Sami Stevens is a treasure, scatting and crooning her way around most elegantly and with an original, unstressed sound. I’d recommend this to anyone." A+
— Hippo Press

“Closely shadowing one another, voice, like-an-instrument, and tenor saxophone in a winning togetherness is the fresh and piquant combination that you hear on the lightly swinging ‘Things Line Up’ … The fine arrangement with its serpentine bebop-esque melody trajectory opens into a George solo timbrally akin to the style of Joshua Redman backed by a piano trio rhythm section.”
★★★★
— Stephen Graham, Marlbank.net

“The band acts as one cohesive unit throughout the album, and it is no surprise that the pieces presented have been performed live time and time again prior to entering the studio. Enjoy I Insist now and expect to hear more great things in the future from George!”
— Sam Dickinson, The WholeNote

All the way, we get brilliant tenor saxophone playing from Kazemde George, and he has brought with him musicians who know the history of jazz, and who help to make this a brilliant record, which helps to inherit the great masters from the 60's on into the future.
— Jan Granlie, Salt Peanuts

“ an incredibly rock-solid record, and one that will definitely put the name of tenorist Kazemde George on the map!”
— Dusty Groove

Life & Work

Bio: Kazemde George is an African American jazz saxophonist, composer, and beat-maker based in Brooklyn who exhibits a gift for streamlined, emotionally direct melodies, articulated with a warm tone and a certain guiding restraint. Raised by Caribbean parents in Berkeley, California, Kaz was exposed to a wide range of musical styles, and has been playing Piano, Saxophone, and Percussion from an early age.

During high school, Kazemde developed a passion for Jazz while studying the oral tradition under the tutelage of Khalil Shaheed, Charles McNeal and Susan Muscarella. He also began to make electronic music under the moniker “KG,B”. KG,B’s beats are inspired by Hip-Hop producers such as J Dilla, Madlib, and Flying Lotus, who he sees as modern the counterparts of early Jazz innovators.

In 2007, Kazemde moved to Boston to attend school, and in 2014, Kazemde completed the Harvard/New England Conservatory (NEC) Joint program, receiving his Bachelors in Neurobiology (Harvard) and his Masters in Jazz Composition (NEC). At NEC, Kazemde studied privately with Jerry Bergonzi, Cecil McBee, Donny McCaslin, John McNeil, Jason Moran, Danilo Pérez, and Miguel Zenón. In 2012, he received Harvard’s George Peabody Gardener Fellowship to study traditional music in La Habana, Cuba for ten months. Through his travels, Kaz has expanded his focus from Hip-Hop and Jazz to the full spectrum of musical styles which blossomed from the African Diaspora, including Afro-Cuban, Afro-Caribbean, Afro-Brazilian, and African-American traditions. As he sees it, the study of these musical styles serves as a way to regain cultural histories that where lost through the processes of African-American Slavery.

Today, his focus is aligned towards music, but Kazemde is also a biologist at heart, and his quest to understand this wide breadth of styles is driven by an analytical mind with a scientific approach.

In October 2021, Kazemde released his debut album, I Insist, on Greenleaf Music by Dave Douglas.

Kazemde has performed with Solange Knowles and Saint Heron, David Murray, Román Filiú, and Jason Moran, at venues and festivals such as, Dizzy's Coca-Cola Club, Zinc Bar, The Jazz Gallery, Irving Plaza, Yoshi's, Black Cat, Cafe Stritch, The David Rubinstein Atrium at Lincoln Center, Panama Jazz Festival, Made In America Festival, AfroPunk, and Panorama NYC Music Festival

My Mission
My goal is to establish my own style as a creative innovator of African-American music, and to help in elevating communities of underprivileged youth through music and other cultural education. I will travel and immerse myself in American communities heavily influenced by African musical traditions in order to study, teach, and perform. I also hope to have the opportunity to explore places like Brazil, The Caribbean, West Africa, and the American South as part of my journey.

Kazemde George Curated

What's Been Happening?

A category was added to Kazemde George:

Brooklyn, NY
- Sep 27
Miguel Zenón → Saxophone has been recommended via Kazemde George.
- Sep 27
Miguel Zenón → Puerto Rico has been recommended via Kazemde George.
- Sep 27
Miguel Zenón → New York City has been recommended via Kazemde George.
- Sep 27
Miguel Zenón → Jazz has been recommended via Kazemde George.
- Sep 27
Miguel Zenón → Composer has been recommended via Kazemde George.
- Sep 27
Danilo Pérez → Piano has been recommended via Kazemde George.
- Sep 27
Danilo Pérez → Panama has been recommended via Kazemde George.
- Sep 27
Danilo Pérez → Multi-Cultural has been recommended via Kazemde George.
- Sep 27
Danilo Pérez → Jazz has been recommended via Kazemde George.
- Sep 27
Danilo Pérez → Composer has been recommended via Kazemde George.
- Sep 27
Danilo Pérez → Boston has been recommended via Kazemde George.
- Sep 27
Flying Lotus → Songwriter has been recommended via Kazemde George.
- Sep 27
Flying Lotus → Record Producer has been recommended via Kazemde George.
- Sep 27
Flying Lotus → Record Label Owner has been recommended via Kazemde George.
- Sep 27
Flying Lotus → Rapper has been recommended via Kazemde George.
- Sep 27
Flying Lotus → Hip-Hop has been recommended via Kazemde George.
- Sep 27
Flying Lotus → Electronic Music has been recommended via Kazemde George.
- Sep 27
Flying Lotus → DJ has been recommended via Kazemde George.
- Sep 27
A category was added to Kazemde George:

Biologist
- Sep 27

em português →

ARE YOU MATRIXED?

"Many thanks for this – I am touched!"
✅—Julian Lloyd Webber
We're touched too Mr Webber! (cello & Brazilian music fan)

"Obrigado!"
✅—Founding Member Darius Mans (economist, PhD, Massachusetts Institute of Technology); president-elect of Brazil, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva

"I'm truly thankful ... Sohlangana ngokuzayo :)"
✅—Nduduzo Makhathini (piano, Blue Note recording artist)

"Thanks, this is a brilliant idea!!"
✅—Alicia Svigals (klezmer fiddle; founder of The Klezmatics)

"This is super impressive work ! Congratulations ! Thanks for including me :)))"
✅—Clarice Assad (composer & piano; compositions recorded by Yo Yo Ma and played by orchestras around the world)

This is a matrix in the original sense of "source" ("matrix" derives from "mater", Latin for "mother"). The platform was built in Bahia, Brazil in order to provide a means by which Bahian artists could be reached from around the world. But there's a beautiful catch: To work for these people the platform must work for ALL in the global creative economy. It must engender an INTEGRATED GLOBAL CREATIVE ECONOMY.
How a) Inside this matrix you have a node (a page) — a calling card to the universe — from which you can curate (recommend) other people in the network, and by which they can recommend you.
How b) In mathematics there is something called "the small world phenomenon". Human society is "small world" (which is how most of the 8 billion of us of are within some 6 or so steps of each other). Neurons in the human brain are "small world". The internet is "small world".
How c) This matrix is "small world". Nodes tend to be a small number of steps apart. You can potentially step from any node to any other. You can get to João do Boi from Quincy Jones in 4 steps. And from Quincy Jones to you.
Participation is free to people. Businesses outside of Bahia, Brazil will be levied a nominal fee.
Artificial intelligence not necessary. Real intelligence, yes. The matrix is a real mother for ya! Odoyá!

"we appreciate you"
(Banch Abegaze, mgr)
✅—Kamasi Washington

← in english

VOCÊ ESTÁ NO MATRIX?

"Muito obrigado por isso - estou tocado!"
✅—Julian Lloyd Webber
Estamos tocados também Sr. Webber! (violoncelo & fã da música brasileira)

"Obrigado!"
✅—Membro Fundador Darius Mans (economista, doutorado, Massachusetts Institute of Technology); presidente eleito do Brasil, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva

"Estou realmente agradecido... Sohlangana ngokuzayo :)"
✅—Nduduzo Makhathini (piano, artista da Blue Note)

"Obrigada, esta é uma ideia brilhante!!"
✅—Alicia Svigals (violino klezmer; fundadora da The Klezmatics)

"Este é um trabalho super impressionante! Parabéns! Obrigada por me incluir :)))"
✅—Clarice Assad (compositora & piano; composições gravadas por Yo Yo Ma e tocadas por orquestras ao redor do mundo)

Este é uma matrix no sentido original de "fonte" ("matrix" deriva de "mater", latim para "mãe"). A plataforma foi construída na Bahia, Brasil, a fim de fornecer um meio pelo qual artistas baianos pudessem ser alcançados de ao redor do mundo. Mas existe um porém lindo: Para funcionar para essas pessoas a plataforma deve funcionar para TODOS na economia criativa global. Deve gerar uma ECONOMIA CRIATIVA GLOBAL INTEGRADA.
Como a) O matrix é uma rede de pessoas/entidades na economia criativa global. Você tem um nó (uma página) — um cartão de visita para o universo numa lista de informações do século 21 que circula o mundo — de onde pode selecionar (recomendar) outras pessoas na rede, e elas podem recomendar você.
Como b) Na matemática existe algo chamado "o fenômeno do mundo pequeno". A sociedade humana é um "mundo pequeno" (que é como a maioria dos 8 bilhões de nós estão dentro de mais ou menos 6 passos de um ao outro). Os neurônios no cérebro humano são um "mundo pequeno". A internet é um "mundo pequeno".
Como c) Este matrix é "pequeno mundo". Os nós tendem a estar separados por um pequeno número de etapas. Você pode potencialmente passar de qualquer nó para qualquer outro. Você pode chegar ao João do Boi de Quincy Jones em 4 etapas. E de Quincy Jones a você.
A participação é gratuita para pessoas. As empresas fora da Bahia, Brasil serão cobradas uma taxa nominal.
Inteligência artificial não necessária. Inteligência real, sim. O matrix é uma verdadeira mãe! Odoyá!