Sacramento born artist Kilan Thorns released his freshman jazz record, “Moods In Indigo” on January 14th, 2022. I’ve followed Kilan since his beginnings with Yung Men but this is now his step into the light as he pursues a jazz avenue. Kilan is a trombonist, a very talented one as well preforming a lot of live instruments for Yung Men’s projects. Now the record is only 4 tracks but there is a long list of credited artist behind the album. On trombone next to Kilan is AJ Akira Asano, Chris Middleton & Scott Whitfield who all have powerful lungs that bring beauty out of the brass. Nathan Serot played the trumpet while Jason Wool and Dan Kwak handled the keyboard/synths. Jermaine Paul was on bass while Gene Coye and the homie Myles Martin took over on drums. Jesse Seibold would engineer the album to perfect, matching the blue that silhouettes the cover. Speaking about the cover I feel it has a similar look to “Blue & Sentimental” by Ike Quebec but has a darker shadowing to it. Now that I’ve spent a paragraph breaking down some knowledge, lets dive into my thoughts on “Moods In Indigo” by Kilan Thorns.
The Breakdown
“Riviera” starts off our jazz expedition with a nice rhythm, in my girlfriends words “It sounds like 2 snails having coffee at a French bistro by the river.” Now while she may write an interesting short story with that narrative the music to me is calming, with lots of high notes that all slowly crash back down like a wave hitting the beach. This was a wonderful song to introduce us to Kilan Thorns. The second track, “Just a Closer Walk With Thee” has a slower, more intimate feeling behind it. This to me is something you’d listen to while walking under the stars at a park, your girl just hit you with that dreaded breakup text so you’re crushed; alone walking around just searching inside for some peace of mind. Someone hurt me but it wasn’t Kilan who’s crew behind this track absolutely nailed it, this could be a modern day classic if more people catch onto the album.
“Mood Indigo” reminds me of L.A. Noire by Rockstar Games, a darker song that lights your path like a cigarette at midnight. The mood is chilling, all the instruments flow a lot slower as if a death has happened, yet the song feels alive with charm. This would serve perfect for a bar scene in a 60’s Noire film, hands down an amazing song! The conclusion to our indigo mood is “Krem.wav” which has a much different tone then the previous three tracks. This feels like Kilan Thorns way of bringing in some hip-hop elements into his jazz product by adding a funkier beat. The flow feels smooth, almost like this was meant to make a brother dance to the melody. I think in terms of creativity this is hands down the track that stands alone as it has an entirely different vibe then the rest of the project.
Final Thoughts
If I told you that jazz was coming out of Sacramento you’d probably reread that sentence since that is such an oddity but Kilan Thorns absolutely delivers with an amazing debut in his young career. I have no favorite song here because each one is amazing in its own right, standing alone in both creativity and originality. I would say that if I had to choose a favorite it would be “Mood Indigo” due to my enjoyment of older Noire era music which this reminded me a lot of. All I can say now is I am excited to see what is next for the young brother as he explores the world of jazz, I hope to see more of “Krem.wav” style songs in the near future with other projects. My overall rating is a must listen, I guarantee you’ll become a fan of jazz with Kilan Thorns album.
The Musical Hippie 