American, California-based trumpeter Kris Tiner studied with Wadada Leo Smith at CalArts, and collaborates with artists across the jazz and new music spectrum, including Tatsuya Nakatani, Kraig Grady, Lisa Mezzacappa, and Lukas Ligeti. He has played in the Empty Cage Quartet and the Tin/Bag duo. Tiner directs the jazz program at Bakersfield College.
Fellow American pianist Cathlene Pineda co-directs the jazz program and teaches piano and composition at CalArts. She has performed with Bobby Bradford, Art Lande, Dave Douglas, and Jeff Parker, and collaborated with the LA Philharmonic, Merce Cunningham Dance Studio, and the Jane Goodall Institute.
Tiner and pianist Pineda have been playing music together for over fifteen years, initially in Pineda’s quartet and also in groups led by LA avant-garde figurehead Vinny Golia and indie jazz producer Chris Schlarb. Sung is their first duo album, reflecting their deep camaraderie and intuitive dynamics. It features a set of eight pieces that seamlessly blend influences ranging from Ellington to Chopin, from Stravinsky to Kenny Wheeler. The album was recorded at Tritone Recording in Glendale, California, in July 2025.
The album begins with four older pieces inspired by friends, mentors, and influences. Tiner’s «Wheeler Song» beautifully inhabits the harmonic, lyrical language of late trumpet hero Kenny Wheeler. Pineda’s touching and reflective «LPJ» was written after the passing of a dear childhood friend. Tuner’s title piece was composed 25 years ago as a statement of gratitude to Dr. Doug Davis, the teacher who first inspired him to compose music. The only cover, Charlie Haden’s iconic «Silence», receives a majestic, meditative interpretation, reflecting the seminal influence of Haden, with whom both Tiner and Pineda studied at CalArts. Haden’s son, bassist and songwriter Josh Haden, contributed liner notes to Sung.
The other four pieces are more recent, telling a story of displacement and adapting to changing realities. Pineda’s melancholic «New Build» reflects on the time when her family was forced out of their home in Altadena during the fires in January of 2025, when the family lived in hotels, and was looking for a more permanent space. She also wrote the contemplative, conversational «Pre/Inter/Post», which faithfully captures the duo’s interplay with Tiner, conversations full of unanswered questions. Tiner’s «Something Has Shifted» suggests a mysterious, spontaneous story. This beautiful album ends with Pineda’s «Displaced», an Ellington-esque, lyrical chorale that she composed while living with her family in a one-room hotel, expressing a feeling of stillness and waiting for an answer that keeps being delayed.
Eyal Hareuveni
Kris Tiner (trumpet, flugelhorn), Cathlene Pineda (piano)
