Blademasters – King’s Knight/Live By The Blade

Drawing on the spirit of David Axelrod’s bold cinematic jazz works of the 1960s and 1970s (Songs Of Experience, Pride and The Electric Prunes’ Release Of An Oath), the debut Blademasters release King’s Knight / Live By The Blade features Stuckey and Ryan performing delicate acoustic guitar arrangements in unison, set against dramatic movements by a rhythm section comprising Hudson Whitlock (Karate Boogaloo, The Pro-Teens, Frollen Music Library), Jethro Curtin (Surprise Chef) and Tom Pettit (Let Your Hair Down).

Recorded live in the Dune Castle Throne Room by Henry Jenkins, King’s Knight and Live By The Blade evoke a cinematic intensity, capturing a charged stillness between action and resolve. 

King’s Knight sets its intention early, with intertwined acoustic guitars and vibraphone establishing a calm but expectant foundation. As the piece unfolds, drums enter with a deliberate, weighty pulse, before bass and piano gradually widen the frame. The track moves patiently between restraint and release, favouring subtle rhythmic shifts and textural development over overt melodic statement.

Stuckey says “Patrick and I had long wanted to write music together. We’re both guitarists, so writing for two guitars was central. We discussed Axelrod’s Pride, which uses acoustic guitar alongside dramatic rhythm section arrangements in a really cool way. We wanted to reinterpret those sensibilities in our own voice”.