Los Angeles-based trumpeter and composer Julien Knowles is one of the most sought-after musicians on the LA jazz scene, recently heard on Anthony Wilson’s Collodion, Peter Epstein’s Two Legs Bad, Louis Cole’s Some Unused Songs and other recordings. He’s worked with Gerald Clayton, David Binney, Joe LaBarbera, Anthony Fung, Jon Hatamiya, Adi Meyerson, Billy Mohler and Daniel Rotem, among others. He held the trumpet chair, joining just seven fellow students, in the 2023 graduating class of the Herbie Hancock Institute of Jazz at UCLA, earning an MM under the guidance of Hancock, Billy Childs and Wayne Shorter . Drawing on this rarest of experiences as he shapes his own artistic identity, Knowles is proud to present As Many, as One, his auspicious debut as a leader. At the heart of the effort is a finely honed quintet sound, with string quartet added on the expansive “Moon Theater” and Knowles’ heartfelt adaptation of the entrancing Louis Cole ballad “End of the Night.”

The members of Knowles’ quintet include three classmates from the Hancock Institute: alto saxophonist Devin Daniels, pianist Javier Santiago and drummer Benjamin Ring. On bass is Dario Bizio , who attended the same high school as Daniels. “I played a couple of sessions with Dario,” Knowles recalls, “and I got to know where he aligned in the bass lineage. I heard a lot of Charlie Haden in his playing. I’ve toured this music a couple times with him, and I’ve seen him take these incredible risks—and every time, the one comment that inevitably multiple people in the audience will make is, ‘Oh man, that bass player, right?’ Dario is young and he’s going to be a force.”

Knowles had the honor and pleasure of producing Devin Daniels’ forthcoming album Grandiose. That the two are best friends is not incidental to the chemistry they achieve in the front line on As Many, as One . “There are so many moments on the album where Devin is really pushing me to my limit,” Knowles says. “He’s an incredibly inspiring person. We talk every day and collaborate on a lot of projects. Benjamin [Ring] and I were roommates at the Institute and he showed me a lot of classical music I was unaware of. And I showed him my avant-garde stuff. He’s one of my closest friends. And Javier, he’s the oldest of us, an extremely versatile player, can read absolutely anything, didn’t overdub any parts on the record. When I write, I sit at the piano and make sure everything’s playable, but sometimes I’m like, ‘Man, this is gonna be hard.’ Not for Javi. He’s a champ.”

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LABEL: Biophilia Records

ALBUM: As Many, as One

RELEASE DATE: April 26, 2024

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