Duane Hansen Fernandez and Wink Winkelmann Reunite for Jazz Album “Be It Known”
After collaborating on the short film “A Place to Fall Down,” filmmaker Duane Hansen Fernandez and composer Wink Winkelmann have reunited — this time in the recording studio. The pair, whose creative chemistry helped define the emotional pulse of the film, have come together again for Be It Known.
This project marks a new chapter in their artistic partnership, blending Duane’s cinematic sensibility with Wink’s boundary-pushing musicianship to create something both intimate and expansive.
Produced by Fernandez, Be It Known captures the humanity and craft that define their work together. It’s a testament to collaboration in its purest form: two artists, driven by curiosity and connection, building something that resonates far beyond the screen.
“Be It Known" marks the long-anticipated debut of bassist and composer Wink Winkelmann; a bold and genre-defying statement from an artist whose musical path has been anything but conventional. After a 15-year hiatus spent studying medicine and practicing dermatologic surgery, the Venice, California–based Winkelmann quietly cultivated his sound as a self-taught composer.
His breakthrough moment came with the hauntingly evocative score for the critically-acclaimed film by Duane Hansen Fernandez, “A Place to Fall Down.” Building on that momentum, Winkelmann assembled a powerhouse ensemble of world-class musicians to bring his artistic vision to life.
The result is “Be It Known;” a modern spiritual jazz odyssey that draws from sacred tradition while seamlessly weaving together influences of meditation, classical and heavy metal music. The album is not just a testament to transformation, it’s a declaration of creative arrival.
Album Highlights:
• “Cute and Clustered” marks the most sophisticated arrangement of the album. The flute melody begins as an R&B groove and evolves through classical music-like sounds to psychedelic rock with a hair-band guitar solo by Yunus Iyriboz.
• The jazz chops of the group begin to shine with “Q-Trip.” What starts as a clear nod to A Tribe Called Quest ultimately alternates between hip-hop and straight-ahead swing. “The abrupt change between genres demonstrates Wink’s immense range of compositional ability, and highlights his belief that all music has room for improvisation,” says producer Duane Hansen Fernandez.
• “The Id and The Eno” features the true mastery of MAE.SUN on soprano saxophone. The delicate intensity of her solo bounces off the powerful drums of Nate Smith supported by ostinatos of organ and bowed upright bass. Throughout, slide guitar exists in counterpoint to the saxophone, but its lines remain broken after a torrent of heavy metal guitar.
Featured musicians on the album:
Wink Winkelmann (bass, piano, percussion)
Nate Smith (drums)
MAE.SUN (woodwinds)
Yunus Iyriboz (electric guitar, oud)
Rashon “RaMu” Murph (keyboards)