Evening in the Atrium
with De La Fonk Trio
Thursday, October 16, 2025 from 5:00pm - 7:00pm
Founded in 2021, de la Fonk smoothly blends the expressiveness of improvisation, the energy of funk, and the tight knit of the trio format. Featuring drummer Kassem Williams, guitarist Will Trentini, and the bass work of bandleader Michael Kinchen, this trim trifecta deals deliberately in full-fledged funk.
About
Michael Kinchen is a highly regarded multi-instrumentalist whose lifelong enchantment and prepossession with
music began on the east side of Winston-Salem, NC. Ever in high demand both live and in-studio, he has been a
creative force and a fixture on the North Carolina music scene since 2010 after earning his formal education in
music at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro, studying saxophone in the award-winning Miles Davis
Jazz Studies Program. Here, he discovered the music of Dexter Gordon, Joe Henderson, Kenny Garrett, and
Brad Mehldau—artists whose influence would prove integral to the development of Kinchen’s own voice.
While in school, Michael performed and/or recorded with Lee Konitz, Wessell “Warmdaddy” Anderson, Ryan
Kisor, Ralph Bowen, Joey Calderazzo, Delfeayo Marsalis, Joel Frahm, Eugene Rousseau, Seamus Blake, Michael
Cox, and Marcus Printup.
Staying true to form, he continues to focus his saxophone efforts on jazz. In addition to straight-ahead, Kinchen
spreads his more varied interests across keyboards and electric bass, both fretted and fretless, he covers funk,
soul, fusion, indie, sacred music, folk, gospel, blues, country, rock, R&B, electronic music, and yet others. The
range of his versatility is evinced by his broad list of recently or currently associated acts from big band to
singer-songwriters to the Winston-Salem Symphony. He has shared billing with national and international
artists ranging from alternative fusion (The Funky Knuckles, Jonathan Scales Fourchestra) to jam-rock
(Dopapod, Tauk) to hip hop (Snoop Dogg) and shared stages with such varied legends as Ike Stubblefield,
Artimus Pyle, and George Porter, Jr.
Today, Kinchen’s passion for music runs deeper than ever, and his dedication to his art is absolute. He seeks to
establish more opportunities to create, for self-realization and expression, and for the enrichment and further
benefit of the world, while continuing to learn, experience, and contribute meaningfully to the growth,
evolution, and proliferation of Music everywhere.