Press
The answer to the question, “Can Christmas sound hip?” is a resounding, “Yes!” This album virtually reinvents holiday music.
– Steven Grady, CHIRP radio
If you know nothing of these arcane religioso artifacts—from 17th-century French carols and 19th-century hymns to sacred 16th-century Latin prayers and 13th-century Christmas songs—you’d be grooving hard to what simply sounds like solid progressive jazz.
Mike Greenblatt, Goldmine Magazine
[Adventus is] not the usual lighthearted fare that we’ve come to expect from Holiday albums. Instead, Adventus is an album that must be taken on its own terms… it’s a gem of an album.
Paul Abella, WDCB radio
The quintet—Kevin Brown on guitar, Andy Schlinder on saxophones, Matt Peterson on piano and keyboard, James Ross on bass, and Lucas Gillan on drums—presents the material with ensemble interplay that reflects the album’s title, meaning “arrival,” and its intent to bring traditional hymns into modern improvisation.
– Bob Osborne, World of Jazz
“Of the Father’s Love Begotten,” … shows Brown’s skill as a jazz guitarist while “Theme and Variations on ‘Let All Mortal Flesh Keep Silence’” showcases his dexterity as a solo classical guitarist.
-Chad Connelly, Static Multimedia
CHIRP Radio Best of 2025: Steven Grady
# 2 Album of 2025
Canadian born guitarist Kevin Brown is a busy freelance performer and educator in the Chicagoland area. He and his quintet have arrived just in time for the holiday season with a most refreshing collection of modern jazz arrangements of traditional Christmas selections, Adventus. This collection of music seeks to recreate space for reflection and preparation of the season by revisiting specific historical music that has been traditionally used during the period of Advent. The answer to the question, “Can Christmas sound hip?” is a resounding, “Yes!” The album is replete with solo heavy instrumentals where Brown encourages each performer to show his wares fairly evenly. This album virtually reinvents holiday music.
-Steven Grady, Dec 31, 2025
Adventus (Jeru Jazz), by the Kevin Brown Quintet—guitarist Brown, sax man Andy Schlinder, keyboardist Matt Peterson, bassist James Ross, drummer Lucas Gillan—is one of the more unique projects of the year. It’s a holiday album, yes, with the first single a post-bop version of “The Angel Gabriel From Heaven Came,” which dates back to the 14th Century. The nine tracks are meant to give a space for reflection by revisiting Medieval and Liturgical history. But it all springs to stunning new life in this band’s hands. If you know nothing of these arcane religioso artifacts—from 17th-century French carols and 19th-century hymns to sacred 16th-century Latin prayers and 13th-century Christmas songs—you’d be grooving hard to what simply sounds like solid progressive jazz.
– Mike Greenblatt, Dec 21, 2025
What’s New on WDCB… with Paul Abella (December 15th, 2025)
Kevin Brown is a guitarist and educator in the Chicago area, and he just put out a Christmas album called Adventus. He assembled a fantastic quintet to join him for the session, with Andy Schlinder on saxophones, Matt Peterson on keyboards, James Ross on bass and Lucas Gillan on drums. Adventus is a fascinating collection of religious pieces dating from as far back as the 3rd century, and even the most recent songs here are from the 1800’s. So, it’s not the usual lighthearted fare that we’ve come to expect from Holiday albums. Instead, Adventus is an album that must be taken on its own terms. On those terms, it’s a gem of an album. “O Come O Come Emmanuel” gets fantastic solos from Schlinder, Brown, Peterson and Ross. “Of the Father’s Love Begotten” might start off on a mellow note, but once it gets going, it’s like a freight train. “Let All Mortal Flesh Keep Silence” is interesting, featuring intertwining lines between Brown and Schlinder, and “Gaudette” is a burning swinger that I liked a lot. Adventus is far from traditional holiday fare, but its singularity will surely make it stand out in any Christmas music collection.
-Paul Abella, WDCB radio, Dec 15, 2025
Kevin Brown Quintet’s Adventus, self‑released on 25 November 2025, is a nine‑track album recorded in Wheaton, Illinois earlier that year and mixed/mastered by John Paul Peters at Private Ear Recording in Winnipeg. Running for 53 minutes, it reinterprets sacred and seasonal repertoire such as Phos Hilaron, O Come O Come Emmanuel, and Gaudete through a contemporary jazz framework. The quintet—Kevin Brown on guitar, Andy Schlinder on saxophones, Matt Peterson on piano and keyboard, James Ross on bass, and Lucas Gillan on drums—presents the material with ensemble interplay that reflects the album’s title, meaning “arrival,” and its intent to bring traditional hymns into modern improvisation.
– Bob Osborne, Dec 21, 2025
The Kevin Brown Quintet ‘Adventus’ Review – Static Multimedia
“In gratitude, I humbly asked [God] to be given the means and privilege to make others happy through music… May He help and strengthen all men in every good endeavor.” – John Coltrane (A Love Supreme)
It is fitting that the press materials that accompany the release of The Kevin Brown Quintet’s Adventus open with a quote from John Coltrane who, after kicking drink and drugs, found a new path to enlightenment that is evidenced not only in one of his most famous compositions (and albums), “A Love Supreme,” but on subsequent releases including 1966’s Meditations.
“During the year 1957, I experienced, by the grace of God, a spiritual awakening which was to lead me to a richer, fuller, more productive life. At that time, in gratitude, I humbly asked to be given the means and privilege to make others happy through music” is a quote from Coltrane that appears in the liner notes for A Love Supreme (1965) and could just as easily apply to the music on Chicago jazz guitarist/quintet leader Kevin Brown’s Adventus, released recently via the imprint Jeru Jazz.
According to Brown, “The four weeks leading up to Christmas can sometimes be the busiest time of the year as people rush around preparing for the holidays, time off from school and work as well as the end of the year. But historically these four weeks, the season of Advent, have been a time for quiet reflection and preparation.”
He continues with “This collection of music seeks to recreate that space for reflection and preparation through revisiting specific historical music that has been traditionally used during the period of Advent. Through some study of Medieval music and participation in more liturgical traditions, I have come to appreciate the beauty of this historical music. Yet, at the same time, contemporary ears can’t help but hear and explore new ways of bringing the music to life.”
Adventus opens with “Phos Hilaron,” the Kevin Brown Quintet’s somber take on an ancient Christian hymn, and “O Come O Come Emmanuel,” the best-known selection on the album, arranged and played with enough swing to lighten up any holiday party.
Further along, “Of the Father’s Love Begotten,” translated from another historic hymn, shows Brown’s skill as a jazz guitarist while “Theme and Variations on ‘Let All Mortal Flesh Keep Silence’” showcases his dexterity as a solo classical guitarist. This is followed by the full quintet, Coltrane-inspired take on “Let All Mortal Flesh Keep Silence,” a fresh perspective on an ancient Eucharistic devotional.
“Angels From the Realms of Glory,” a more traditional Christmas carol written by Scottish poet James Montgomery (1771-1854), is, perhaps the most accessible (and spirited) song on Adventus, while “The Angel Gabriel From Heaven Came” was released as the album’s first single and has been getting some well-deserved airplay.
Adventus comes to a close with the jazz-funk of “Gaudete” (a real showcase for drummer Lucas Gillan), and it is hard to believe that the tune can be traced back to a 16th Century Latin carol as it sounds completely contemporary, and the quintet’s deeply moving take on “The King Shall Come,” yet another hymn that gets the electric jazz treatment and is driven by Matt Peterson’s inspired keyboard work.
Chad Connelly, Dec 8, 2025
Gig review: ‘Mosaik’ at The Jazz Showcase, Chicago, 27 June 2012
Review by Rob Mallows, organiser, London Jazz Meetup
The Jazz Showcase is in many ways Chicago’s answer to Ronnie Scott’s. Its been going for over sixty years; it’s still owned by the same man – musician Joe Segal, who’s run the place since 1947 but now leaves it to his son to manage day to day. It is home to both national touring acts and local jazz musicians and has a reputation to die for.
Just a look at the bill posters on the wall of its pleasant new venue in the former parcels office of the old Dearborn Station tells you all you need to know about it’s status as one of the great homes of jazz: Chick Corea, Freddie Hubbard, McCoy Tyner, Dizzy Gillespie to name just a few of the names I read.
Unlike Ronnie’s, however, the Showcase retains old-school jazz club elements that the former has left behind: $10 (£6.75!) entry, for a start; no pre-booking or dining; tables and chairs, and sofas, instead of benches; and no chuck-outs between sets. And it’s all the better for it. Feels like what Ronnie Scott’s must have been like thirty years ago.
As such, it gives as great a prominence to local acts as the star names. I went to see two differing sets from local group Mosaik. Playing their own compositions, a set at The Showcase is a chance to play the music they like and, in the words of drummer Nils Higdon, ‘take a break from playing weddings and teaching.’
Led by guitarist Kevin Brown, the band plays fusion jazz that evidently seems to draw heavily on Coltrane, Montgomery and Hubbard while being equally comfortable skirting the shores of swing and rock. New bassist Alex Wing – an obvious boon to the band – provided the electric bass groove and chops that we’re complex but didn’t over-egg the pudding. His sound worked well with Brown’s fretless guitar, their tones at times suggesting two bass players workings together in different octaves, such was the absence of high-end timbre and bite that one would expect from a fretted guitar.
Drummer Higdon threw together some great drum sounds, leading the band into some heavy-duty rhythmic changes and complex 12:4 passages. At times, head turned to the side and eyes closed, he was like an engineer listening intently to a finely tuned jazz-fuelled engine. Sax player Andy Schlinder took on the task of the heavy lifting when it came to the melody and power, combining hard blowing and gripping runs with an easy tone on the quieter ballads. An element that set the music apart for me was Preyas Roy’s vibe playing which was blisteringly fast but without overpowering the group’s overall sound.
On compositions like ‘Monsieur Gauthier’ and the Samba-influenced ‘El Gato’ in the second set – both Brown compositions from their album Integral Decomposition – the band went up a gear and skirted the freer end of the jazz spectrum, but all the while still retaining a central core of strong melody and tight interplay that retained the interest of a small, but enthusiastic Wednesday evening crowd.
Upon leaving the venue at midnight, having listened to three hours of great jazz from a young band clearly destined to go beyond the metropolitan Chicago area and – as I suggested to Brown – perhaps join the burgeoning scene in London and Europe at some point – I knew this was a special place.
I’m in Chicago for two things: Cubs baseball and jazz. Earlier in the day, the Cubs lost 17-1 at home to the Mets. At least I could rely on Chicago’s jazz scene to deliver a better result.