As old friends, Bruno and James forged a strong musical bond during a monthly residency they held in one of London’s subterranean jazz clubs, back in 2017. Since then, the duo has been on the road appearing at clubs and international festivals. They worked together on James’ album First Quartet (Ubuntu Music), receiving critical acclaim following its release last year as well as achieving one million streams on digital platforms. More recently, the two have come together as part of a trio with renowned vocalist Heidi Vogel (Cinematic Orchestra). It is highly significant that Kitchman and Heinen have each been compared to Jim Hall and Bill Evans respectively, one of the most revered guitar-piano duos in the history of jazz.

The duo explains the idea behind Rain Shadows, their latest project: "The album features compositions by each of us, interspersed with free improvisations. We wanted to capture the musical dialogue and rapport that we’ve developed whilst keeping a feeling of focussed freedom. Our compositional styles come together through a shared harmonic language, reminiscent of composer Charles Ives and the period of early twentieth century music at which tonality was reaching breaking point and beginning to unravel. The album travels across a spectrum of moods on its path; from bright optimism to the murky depths of despair and back again.”