Ken Jaquess founded K² in 2001 after 8 years as bassist with L.A. progressive group Atlantis, when Ken decided it was time to head in a new direction. While on a long hiatus, Ken realized a life long dream to write and produce a project about the Egyptian Book of the Dead. He first teamed up with jazz drummer extraordinaire Doug Sanborn and in July of 2001 laid down the backing tracks that would become the foundation of BOTD.
Along the way, he invited a few of his friends to add their special talents to this project. This included guitar god Allan Holdsworth, Spocks Beard keyboardist Ryo Okumoto, vocalist Shaun Guerin, violinist Yvette Devereaux and guitarist John Miner. The album was becoming bigger than anything Ken had ever planned!
“It just developed a life of its own.” Ken says, “So I decided to go for it and see what would happen if all of these great musicians could come together and play my music!”
Four years in the making, K²’s debut CD ‘Book of the Dead’ was released in April of 2005 to worldwide acclaim and heralded as a top 10 release by many critics. Sadly after Shaun Guerin recorded his vocals, he passed away. His voice was quite unique and he would have wanted K² to continue. With a new critically acclaimed album and no vocalist, Ken searched and found Josh Gleason of The Waiting Room. “I contacted Josh to see if he would like to be the new lead vocalist. I’m very happy he said yes! Also, people kept asking me if K² were ever going to tour, so I put together this new line-up to take on the road” Ken said. This included Doug, Ryo and Ken along with an amazing guitarist; Karl Johnson of Atlantis and of course Josh.
On January 13th 2006, K² performed their first gig in Hollywood before a packed house. This show was filmed in widescreen for a fall 08’ DVD release. “There are more shows to follow”, Ken says. Now that K² has partnered with Umbrello Records, expect great things for the future!
K² is the brainchild of bassist/songwriter Ken Jaquess. Beginning with guitar lessons at age 11, and switching to bass at 13, Ken found a desire early on to play unconventional music, far from the path of commercial, radio pop. Newcross (Rain of Thought), Dresden and Atlantis, are just a few of the many bands Ken has had the privilege of performing with. Wanting to explore even deeper into the progressive genre, Ken decided to form a new group, write a conceptual album based on the Egyptian “Book of the Dead” and get the best musicians around to join him. K² is truly a band of unparalleled talent.
K2 Perform Beware of Darkness
A clip from Infinite Voyage A clip from The Edge of Light A clip from Ryo's FreeFall
HI, Thanks for the friendship! Looking forward to meeting you and please visit my personal "My Space". New live Mp3's and videos. Lots of information about me. Please read my blog message to all Musicians! Looking for a new music adventure!
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Thanks for the add K2! really glad to be your friend, check out our profile and tell us what you think , we've added a sample of pt.2 of Peripheral Complex, check it out! Operation Chronos!
Hello Thank you very much for the friendship,I am honored to be in your friends list.Great music and incredible playing!It seems we like the same music and have the same influences! Best Yves
