The Kilimanjaro Darkjazz Ensemble is an Utrecht, Netherlands-based group active from 2000 to 2014. It forms around Jason Köhnen and Gideon Kiers, both graduates of the Utrecht School of Arts, who begin the project as a way to compose new music for silent films. Early work includes reinterpretations of films by F.W. Murnau, including Nosferatu, and Fritz Lang’s Metropolis.

Formation and recordings

The group’s first line-up expands in 2004 when UK trombonist Hilary Jeffery and Swiss cellist Nina Hitz join to record the self-titled debut album. The album appears on Planet Mu Records in 2006. After that release, Eelco Bosman and Paris-based vocalist Charlotte Cegarra join for touring, turning the group into a sextet. London-based violinist Sadie Anderson later joins in 2008 to strengthen the live setup.

Style and performance

The Kilimanjaro Darkjazz Ensemble works across ambient, avant-garde, dark ambient, dark jazz, experimental electronic and jazz. Its music varies with the players involved, and the group is described as moving between atmosphere and technique. In performance, it combines acoustic and electronic elements, using instruments such as cello, trombone, violin, beats, guitar, bass and vocals alongside software, with visuals integrated into the show.

Members and related projects

Members include Gideon Kiers, Jason Köhnen, Nina Hitz, Hilary Jeffery, Eelco Bosman, Charlotte Cegarra and Sarah Anderson. Köhnen is also known as Bong-Ra, and Kiers is associated with Telcosystems. Kiers works in abstract audiovisual art and runs the bi-annual Sonic Acts Festival in Paradiso, Amsterdam. Köhnen records for labels including Planet Mu, Cock Rock Disco and Sublight, records a session for John Peel in 2001, remixes Venetian Snares’ Rossz album and plays at major festivals including Glastonbury 2007.

Other activity

The group also has a side project, The Mount Fuji Doomjazz Corporation, which focuses on live improv jazz, drone and doom and uses TKDE members alongside rotating guest musicians. After 2007 the Netherlands becomes the group’s home base, with members living closer together to make writing and production easier. The group splits up in 2014.

Individual backgrounds

Hilary Jeffery is a free-jazz and improvising trombonist who also works with Jimi Tenor, Patrick Pulsinger and Nick Bullen’s Black Galaxy, and releases music with the post-punk group Sand and as a solo artist. Charlotte Cegarra is a French vocalist and multi-instrumentalist who plays xylophone, flute, piano and Rhodes, and graduates from the Paris College of Music with a specialism in electronics. Eelco Bosman is a Dutch guitarist from the Utrecht drone scene and graduates from the Utrecht School of Arts in sound technology, while working on the heavy droning project 78 RPM. Nina Hitz is a cello graduate of the Zurich Conservatory, specialising in baroque music and performing with theatre groups including Scapino Ballet Rotterdam and The Barton Workshop; she also focuses on improvisation, film music and theatre. Sarah Anderson is a violinist and multi-instrumentalist who also works with Chrome Hoof, Kobayashi Ensemble and Blue Roses.