Kaleidoscope Saxophone Quartet and their Debut Album

The Kaleidoscope Saxophone Quartet were chosen as CMF Artists in 2014 and have since taken great steps to progress together as professionals in the difficult world that is the music industry.

As part of the CMF Business Mentoring Programme KSQ have attended numerous workshops with leading figures within the City of London. Topics discussed range from; marketing, setting aims and objectives, organisational skills, managing finances, negotiating fees, contracts, presentation and communication skills, networking, and dealing with stress. From this KSQ have been able to understand that to be successful in an ensemble requires them to function effectively as a self-sufficient business. The CMF Business Mentoring Scheme provides the tools and insights needed for this.

Consequently, through the support of CMF KSQ have chosen to embark on a pivotal part in any musician’s life, the creation of their first album, Oil. KSQ have worked with CMF to commission new works by young professional artists as part of their album. As well as that they have been given the opportunity to compose, perform and record the type of music that they want to play. Owing to the support of CMF, they have been able to curate their own album, exploring new sounds and textures in order to push their artistic boundaries and create something that is entirely theirs.

As part of the CMF Artistic Mentoring Scheme, CMF Artists are also assigned an artistic mentor, someone within the music industry itself who can guide them. Their artistic mentor, saxophonist John Harle has played a huge part in the making of this album and has, not only been a great guide artistically but also with the intricacies of the business.

Being a CMF Artist has allowed all this to be possible, it has allowed KSQ to have artistic control over, not only what and how they play, but down to the design and overall aesthetic of their album. Two members of the quartet, Ian Dingle and John Rittipo-Moore have collaborated on a number of tracks on the album, including the titular Oil with music by Moore accompanied by a newly-commissioned film by Dingle. For the lead up to their album launch, KSQ performed as part of the CMF 2016 concert series on Friday 13th May incorporating image and music in a truly innovative performance, the likes of which CMF has not seen before. The concert was a success with many commenting on Moore’s and Dingle’s original works and the performance of the quartet as a whole including Sally MacTaggart and Guy Passey.

KSQ will officially launch their album on 4^th July at Islington Metal Works, for more information and tickets please click here.