Kind Folk

Kind Folk operate as an improvisational foursome whose egoless, exploratory approach to modern creative jazz has drawn notice. Their 2018 debut album, Why Not, earned widespread critical praise and generated early attention, after which the quartet resurfaced in 2022 with Head Towards the Center.

The ensemble takes its name from a composition by the late trumpeter Kenny Wheeler. It coalesced in New York City in 2014 when trumpeter and flügelhornist John Raymond, alto saxophonist Alex LoRe, bassist Noam Wiesenberg, and drummer Colin Stranahan began working together. All four musicians maintain longstanding ties to the jazz and creative-music communities. Their shared language took shape through informal Brooklyn jam sessions that gradually expanded into club dates across New York, culminating in the release of Why Not on Fresh Sound Records.

Activity slowed in subsequent years when John Raymond joined the faculty of Indiana University as Professor of Jazz Trumpet and Colin Stranahan relocated to his native Denver. The members later resumed writing and recording, issuing their second album, the avant-garde-leaning Head Towards the Center, in 2022.