In 2019, a year before the onset of the pandemic and three years before the full-scale war in Ukraine broke out, we released Illuminated Silence. This was the first album of a new trio consisting of the young Japanese-born, Irish-based pianist and composer Izumi Kimura and the greats of the improvised music world Barry Guy and Gerry Hemingway. The album was very much liked by listeners and I heard from many of them the question whether there is a chance that this formation will survive, because if the band debuts with such a great album, what will happen when it becomes a working band?

Today, five years later we know well that the trio Kimura / Guy / Hemingway is working and bringing a new recording, this time a studio recording made in mid-December of 2023. It is with great pride that we place it in your hands - Six Hands Open As One.