This 8-piece band consists of musicians with different musical backgrounds, but they are led by a guitarist/composer who loves progressive rock. Discus' music tends to mix prog, jazz, Indonesian pop, Gamelan, Zappa, swing, fusion, and even a bit of zeuhl to form a highly original, and diverse sound. These guys, for example, are not afraid of jumping from a progressive Gamelan section straight into something influenced by the 1940s jazz scene. The jump from style to style is fascinating, and refreshing to hear. Discus' debut CD serves as a great introduction to each of the musician's background (almost similar in concept to Yes' "Fragile"), but it isn't entirely progressive rock. The album begins and ends with two rather long prog compositions that mix Gamelan and local influences. Another track features smoking Zappa-esque fusion…
Indonesia and jazz? Not so far-fetched! Improvisation is a part of traditional gamelan, and modal playing goes back 1000 years; jazz began seriously delving into modes with Miles Davis in the 1950’s. Clarinet icon Tony Scott proselytized jazz during his six-year sojourn in Asia, and in so doing brought Asian music masters, including players on this album, into the jazz world.
Edi Nulz, the chamber punk jazz band you trust, is producing their fifth album - and with your support we can soon celebrate our tenth anniversary with this record!
Stephan Micus is a unique figure in music. In his numerous journeys all over the world he seeks to study and understand traditional instruments, the sounds that they produce and the cultures that brought them to life. He then composes original pieces for them, playing all the instruments himself and multi-tracking the compositions in many layers. In this way he combines instruments that would never normally be heard together, chosen from different cultures simply for their character, texture and sonic beauty. Micus’ music is profound, powerful and very original. Songlines magazine described his as “a one man universe of sound.” Nomad Songs is his 21st album for ECM.
While his last album Panagia was a meditative reflection around prayers to the Virgin Mary, this new one, Nomad Songs is more earthy and more vigorous.
For this, the third concert recording of Go: Organic Orchestra, artistic director Adam Rudolph has reunited with longtime collaborator and mentor Yusef Lateef. Rudolph conducts the orchestra in an improvisational process, utilizing themes and cues he and Lateef have composed. From these compositional modules, Rudolph spontaneously constructs the sonic environments with which the soloists interact.