By Frank Alkyer | Published September 2026
Kevin Sun is one of the most talented saxophonists and composers on the jazz scene today. Inspired, individualistic and smart, he brings forth music that entertains and intrigues. His work is never a straight line. And his influences? Well, let’s just say they are very, very varied! He may take inspiration from a jazz legend or a video game, a wizard of electronic music or a visionary of television music scoring. But along the way, he makes music his way for his own label and follows wherever the muse takes him.
For his latest two releases, Kevin Sun I. and Kevin Sun II., the tenor saxophonist proves the point. On I., he lays out a studio-driven set of eight songs that were workshopped over some 18 months at the Lowlands Bar in Brooklyn, New York, with guitarist Max Light, bassist Walter Stinson and drummer Jon Starks. The album features great musicianship and a very cool production edge. On II., the whole thing was cut in one afternoon in Minneapolis after a tour with Stinson, pianist Christian Li and drummer Kayvon Gordon. Two very different settings, groups and goals, but one successful accomplishment: some fascinating music.
Kevin Sun I. charges out of the gate with “Go In,” a rapid-fire blitz of melody over John Coltrane’s “Countdown.” It makes you wonder if this is how Trane might have sounded in 2026. “Souls Of Fire (A Moment’s Peace, From Dark Souls)” is a slow build with electronics backing Light’s melodic guitar work. This reviewer knows nothing about the video role-playing game Dark Souls, except now I know it has a really cool soundtrack. Sun and company choose creating atmosphere over blistering runs of notes. Nothing extra is added, just what is needed. And it’s lovely. On “Between Night And Day,” Sun offers achingly slow, long tones over a bed of electronic washes to beautiful effect. In the liner notes, he says that the bed was actually a studio trick he learned from pianist Christian Li. He recorded the music backwards, then played it in reverse “to create an otherworldly, Twin Peaks effect.” Mission accomplished! With “Riot In Lagos,” Sun tricks out the Ryuichi Sakamoto tune by overlaying takes to give this raucous explosion a “double quartet” feel.
With Kevin Sun II., the artist strips away all of that production, choosing to document his touring band at the time in an old-school, one- or two-take, no-edits, one-afternoon session at the end of the tour. It kicks off with “Unformed, Shrouded By Fog (Souls Prologue),” a film noir soundscape, make that a game noir soundscape. Sun dedicates the tune to Lim Pik-Sen, the Malaysian-British actress who passed away in 2025 and whose voice narrated the Dark Souls role-playing game trilogy. “Souls Of The Mist (From Demon Souls)” is another Dark Souls-inspired creation that finds the quartet in a quiet, slow groove. Sun’s tenor swings plaintive, searching; Christian Li’s piano, fluid and soothing with just the right touches of beauty and sorrow. Stinson and Gordon glide through the groove with grace and elegance. With “Laura Palmer’s Theme,” there’s something in the air, this is the second recent reading that’s hit DownBeat of the music written by Angelo Badalamenti for David Lynch’s defining television drama Twin Peaks (the other by pianist Jamie Saft on Oh, Angelo). Talk about film noir. This tune just drips with tragedy and dusk. Sun said he wrote this arrangement after watching the first two seasons of the show back in 2013 and revisited it now that both Badalamenti and Lynch have joined the ancestors. Sun has a true admiration for the ancestors. For me, “Belong, Sonny” is the crown jewel of these two recordings, a beautiful love letter to two tenor giants who have passed: Benny Golson and Sonny Rollins. It’s a tribute that bops with full-on tenor worship and a title serving a dual purpose. Yes, it mentions Sonny, but the letters can be rearranged to spell out Benny Golson. Beyond that, Sun draws his inspiration for the tune from Golson’s composition “Stablemates.” It’s both fitting and exhilarating with all four members of the band delivering amazing artistry. Sun offers himself as a tenorist who’s fully aware of his own gifts, but also knows the shoulders he stands upon.
