Westbound Situation blends the precision of classical chamber music, the rhythmic drive of bluegrass, and the colorful expression of jazz into a new style of chamber music—chambergrass. The quartet—comprised of Grant Flick on violin, Jake Howard on mandolin, Zach Brown on cello, and Jacob Warren on bass—mixes composition and improvisation seamlessly into their entirely memorized arrangements.
The group formed out of the 2016 Acoustic Music Seminar (AMS), a program run by multi-instrumentalist Mike Marshall. The program accepts 16 talented string players under the age of 22 from around the world to participate in a week of intense improvisation, composition and performance training. All four were two time participants, an honor that not everyone is able to receive.
Westbound Situation has a strong commitment to music education. The group’s combined experience in classical, bluegrass, jazz, and original/improvised music is something not typically offered in the standard curriculum found at most schools and colleges (at least not all at the same time). These styles, among others, give each student the chance to make their own music, and through this process valuable lessons in creativity, listening, and leadership are achieved. Each member of the group maintains a private studio, and all have been invited to provide workshops and masterclasses at schools and festivals across the country.
Westbound Situation’s exciting and diverse concerts feature a set of unique original repertoire colored with recognizable standards from many genres. With bluegrass, classical chamber music, and jazz all coming together in the group’s concept of chambergrass, a Westbound Situation concert is dazzling musical journey not soon forgotten.
Warren & Flick crafts a sound both invitingly full and authentically transparent; captivating listeners through original material that balances familiarity with an exploratory spirit. Jacob Warren plays double bass, and Grant Flick plays violin, tenor guitar and nyckelharpa. The two met at the 2015 Acoustic Music Seminar (AMS), a program for young string players from around the world to collaborate and hone their improvisation, composition and performance abilities. A part of the Savannah Music Festival in Georgia, AMS is led by multi-instrumentalist Mike Marshall.
Their music is a reflection of their friendship and wide musical interests. Jacob and Grant spend much of their time arranging, composing and performing together primarily developing original works. The duo documented their sound with their first album “Kestrel,” released in 2019, and their second album “Waxwing” released in May 2022. Their latest album shows an evolution in both their individual playing and ensemble with a great variety of stylistic foundation and a gentle curiosity for moving between and away from conventional idioms. With Jacob’s classical foundation and Grant’s experience in bluegrass and jazz, their contrasting backgrounds give this collaboration a unique and compelling musical narrative.
In addition to performing and recording, Warren & Flick also strives to share their knowledge and often lead workshops/clinics for young musicians who are interested in making their own music. Here’s what Jacob and Grant say about their mission: “Through the wide spectrum of acoustic music, our goal is to inspire and educate each individual we serve to personally connect to music. Our combined experience in classical, bluegrass, jazz, and original/improvised music is something not typically offered in the standard curriculum found at most K-12 schools. Because these styles, among others, give each student the chance to make their own music, valuable lessons in creativity, listening, and leadership are achieved. By learning music passed down and played by ear, students learn to associate with the tradition of acoustic music while also finding its inherent freedom which allows them to discover and explore their own inner musicianship.” Both Jacob and Grant are graduates of University of Michigan School of Music, Theatre & Dance. Warren & Flick was a finalist in the 2024 Concert Artists Guild Competition, and Jacob is the winner of the 2023 International Society of Bassists Soloist Competition.
“Some of the most engaging people I’ve ever worked with have a clear vision while still being willing to explore—following, with a rare openness, the creative energy.” — Jeremy Kittel
That ethos is central to the new release, Whorls, from Kittel & Co. The album’s title refers to patterns of spirals, an apt metaphor for the undulation between the outsize skills and free-spirited instincts that drive its sound. A dazzlingly original work, Whorls inhabits the space between classical and acoustic roots, Celtic and bluegrass aesthetics, folk and jazz sensibilities.
Previously of the Grammy-winning Turtle Island Quartet, Kittel demonstrated similar scope as a composer-arranger- collaborator for such diverse artists as My Morning Jacket, Yo-Yo Ma & the Silk Road Ensemble, and Bela Fleck & Abigail Washburn. But for the last few years, the Brooklyn-based artist has been diligently building his own repertoire of music for a wholly original new group.
Kittel & Co. includes mandolin phenom Josh Pinkham (named “the future of the mandolin” by Mandolin Magazine), genre-bending guitarist Quinn Bachand (a presidential scholar at Berklee College of Music), transcendent bassist Jacob Warren, and hammer-dulcimer wizard Simon Chrisman (acclaimed for bringing a new tonal flexibility to the instrument). “We met gradually over the years, through festivals, shows, gatherings,” Kittel says. “Each really struck me with their uniqueness, for being a singular force on their instrument.”