Articles

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"Childs use[s] the full range of his instrument while effectively using dynamics to build an arc within each solo. His sound can be sweet and equally harsh when called for, executed with remarkable technique and most importantly, a keen understanding of nuance that is rare for veteran players much less a ninth grader. The young altoist's approach is that of many of the great ... players in jazz history, with a great spiritual awareness of the musical environment where he is residing in the moment."    LINK TO ARTICLE

                                       -- Paul Rauch

                                          All About Jazz 

"Kahlil Childs is a 15-year-old musician who’s been described as a jazz  prodigy and budding star. He heads his band, the Kahlil Childs Quartet..." When asked what is the best advice he has received, Childs said: "The best advice I ever got was from Marshall Hawkins, a legendary bass  player who lives near San Diego, and who I got the honor to play with a  few times. When I was 12, he said to me, 'You’re going to be a leader,  but in order to be a leader, you have to be a great sideman.' For me,  that means that you can never have an ego and take up all the airtime.  You have to give room to your bandmates to express themselves and have  ownership of the music."                                  

                          --Lisa Deaderick

                            San Diego Union Tribune (2025)  

https://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/2025/05/17/young-jazz-standout-kahlil-childs-has-been-learning-and-listening-and-has-a-lot-to-play/   

"When the quartet takes the stage, there’s the usual jazz applause at appropriate times. But there’s something also different, intangible. Childs, 15, addresses the audience with both presence and confidence—dare I say an aura?—that marks him as a leader. It comes through in his playing—alto sax and bass clarinet. His band mates function with  him as one unit, each taking solos throughout the set and all commanding  attention at the same level. 

[There was] polite applause in all the right places...But the standing ovation and roar of approval that follows their set is unusual and encouraging....I got to see these guys on this day, in this moment, and the show has stuck with me. As Queen would say, “It’s a Kind of Magic." LINK TO ARTICLE

                                 -- Spike Steffenhagen 

                                    San Diego Reader (2025)