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Kingsley Durant — Point of Reference
(Zen Diagram ZDR-2001, 2020, CD)

Kingsley Durant — Convertible
(Zen Diagram ZDR-2302, 2023, CD)

by Peter Thelen, Published 2024-01-27

Point of Reference Cover artConvertible Cover art

Kingsley Durant is a Louisville based guitarist and composer who’s been releasing material for a couple dozen years, although nobody could accuse him of glutting the market with product. He is the brother of guitarist Jon Durant, whom we have covered many times in Exposé. At hand are his latest two releases, Point of Reference released in 2020, and Convertible from 2023, both on the Zen Diagram Records label, which may well be his own private label. On these two releases, Durant offers a purely instrumental guitar based sound that walks the fine line between jazz, blues, funk, fusion, and rock, the varying degrees of each contribution determining the outcome of each track along with his deftly creative compositional skills. On Point of Reference the feeling is a bit more laid back, with swagger, as he leads the quartet featuring keyboardist Steve Hunt, bassist Baron Browne, and drummer Vinny Sabatino, with Jon Durant producing. A delightful course of ten tasty cuts ensues with some solid standouts among them, like “Come Upstairs,” “Plugged In,” “Bay of Funky,” “Give Her My Regrets,” and “Never the Twain.” Hunt’s use of a Hammond Organ sound on many of the tracks provides a very distinctive early seventies style reminiscent of Havey Mandel circa Righteous, Baby Batter, or Feel the Sound, with Durant’s crafty guitar licks opening a powerful melodicism. Opener “Slanky” offers solid bluesy credentials, while “Ancestral Shadows” drives home a slow and tasty ballad with unusual chord structures, while the funky power of “Tell Me Some Good News” is a more modern sounding slab of tasty fusion; truth be said, there isn’t a bad track on Point of Reference anywhere.

Moving forward to Convertible, Steve Hunt is still on board, along with bassist Roscoe Beck, drummer Tom Brechtlein, while percussionist Ricardo Monzón sits in on a few cuts and Eric Johnson guests on “Funky Princess.” Only a few measures into the opening title track it’s obvious this will be a harder-driving endeavor (or a bit more fusion if you will) but the overall style remains intact from its predecessor. “Cobblestones” and “Stanky” present a funky sound with a bit more edge and drive while retaining a solid footing in the jazz idiom. The powerful and tasty eloquence of both “Alice” and “Akiko” represent slower emotive developments that eluded the earlier album for the most part; both pieces are incredibly beautiful. Album closer “Sister Suz” offers another tasty sample of Durant’s compositional and arranging prowess. Both of these albums are full-on excellent with emotion and chops to spare.

Filed under: New releases, 2020 releases, 2023 releases

Related artist(s): Kingsley Durant

More info
http://kingsleydurant.bandcamp.com/album/convertible
http://kingsleydurant.bandcamp.com/album/point-of-reference

 

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