GK: A New Take On Jazz

Having lived in New York, and calling New Orleans my home, I've been immersed in jazz - everything from the traditional jazz on Frenchmen Street on over to the more experimental projects from the likes of John Zorn. That being said, I'm always eager to hear a new take on jazz whenever and however it pops up on my radar.

Enter: GK

GK offers up a revitalization of jazz, infusing (and this is what sold me on it after listening to a few tracks) elements from the contemporary genres that can call jazz their origin. For example, take a listen to "Paint the Town," which has that strong jazz base that I love, while showing off the branches of the tree like Motown, Soul, and Funk:

Or "Love Around," which combines jazz roots with Rock, R&B, and Rap:

 

With smooth, yet intricate composition, and lyrics that border on listening to a mad scientist playing with words to see what they can do when combined, I've been hooked on GK's music and have been playing the tracks over and over (and you should, too)!

You can find GK on SoundCloud as well as YouTube - and if you want to keep up on the latest news and releases, you can follow GK over on Facebook and Twitter.

 

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I had the opportunity to interview GK, and he put together come very insightful answers:

Tersichore: What moved you to music instead of, say, financial statistics?

GK: I have a very deep connection with Sound, and I think music can help people out of the darkest depths and inspire people to the highest heights. Music is just a compilation of sounds that I feel has the ability to shape our perception of reality, and I hope to showcase a new perception. I really like Jazz and I want to use it in new ways and make it relevant for today, because it's the backbone of modern rock and roll. But I didn't think I would become a singer growing up, I didn't think I was good enough until about 3 years ago when all my years of singing instruction clicked and it became easier to sing.

Tersichore: How long have you been doing this?

GK: I've been singing since as long as I could remember, both my parents love to sing even though one of them can't so I kinda grew up thinking that it was normal to sing out loud. But I was enrolled in music organizations since I was 6 from piano, guitar, sax, to bass, however I'm not a good musician the only instrument I can play is myself. Although its helped me in my music composition, I've been in choir and musical productions since I was 12. But my High School Choir teacher is who I learned from the most and helped me become the singer I am today.

Tersichore: I'm not going to ask about your influences (because everyone asks that), but who are you listening to when you're not making music?

GK: When I'm not making music I listen to quite a variety of artists, my take on music is that if its good its good. And what I mean by that is, there are certain unwritten rules when making music and as long as their not violated then your good. Except Polka.

I really like dub-step, but I will say its hard to find good songs and artist usually their out of the UK, borgore comes to mind. Other than that Florence and the Machine, Kendrick Lamar, Queen, Ludacris, Nat King Cole, Micheal Jackson are the artists on my phone at the moment. But I listen to a lot more hip hop than I do pop music even though you can argue that they're the same now.

Tersichore: Plans for the future?

GK: I'm going to be start doing some shows in southern California once I've released my new song, Dark spot, hopefully by the end of the month. I'm in the process of creating an indie music video for Love Around at the moment, release date TBA. But My lyric videos can be found on my YouTube channel for those who are interested in singing along.

Tersichore: If you wanted to impress something on your listeners (or the readers of this article) what would it be?

GK: My music is an attempt to revitalize a style that has had a profound impact on the music world. Its not because I think its important for music culture, but because that's who I am. I look back to the older ways of making music as inspiration but I still try to blend apart of the culture today cause I live it. I could sing pop songs, or join an indie rock band but I make music to make people think and rock out a bit at the same time, 'cause that's what I like to do. I made these songs all on my own, no one told me what to do one step of the way, this is the unabridged me and I hope they enjoy.