C – Artists
Biography
A
unique trio, Cobblestone Jazz uses early computers and analog
instruments to create pared down sounds that retain the quality of
improvisational jazz within the parameters of a minimal, dance-floor
aesthetic. Through a real-time exchange of musical form, language, and
ideas, Tyger Dhula, Mat
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A
unique trio, Cobblestone Jazz uses early computers and analog
instruments to create pared down sounds that retain the quality of
improvisational jazz within the parameters of a minimal, dance-floor
aesthetic. Through a real-time exchange of musical form, language, and
ideas, Tyger Dhula, Mathew Jonson, and Danuel Tate provide a continual
sense of surprise and discovery for their listeners.
The influence
each member has on the group sound contributes to the international
success Cobblestone Jazz continues to recieve. Tyger Dhula's history as a
D.J. and producer of electronic music provides the necessary stylistic
foundations that form the backdrop for the group's improvisations. His
ability to break grooves up into their key elements holds the music
firmly within electronic music traditions. Mathew Jonson's gifted
ability to mix and compose freely, and his commitment to pushing his
music in new directions is always present. Using analogue drum machines
and synthesizers as his instruments, he chooses to write his parts in
the moment instead of conforming to preconfigured patterns. Danuel
Tate's history as a jazz musician and performer prompted the approach to
the group's writing practices. His keyboard playing shows a rich
understanding of modern harmony and melody, but like many great artists,
his dedication to simplicity is what holds him in such high regard.
Since
their 2002 debut release, The 5th Element, Cobblestone Jazz have
received critical acclaim for their releases on IIWII and Wagon Repair.
The band's support from diverse international dj's such as Laurent
Garnier, Daniel Bell, Gilles Peterson, Luciano, Josh Wink, Sven Vath ,
Richie Hawtin, Dan Curtin, Carl Craig, Moodymann, Theo Parrish, Joe
Clausell and many others, shows the trio's appeal is broad. They have
performed internationally from Fabric in London to the Montreux Jazz
Festival in Switzerland. Their music is created in one take, either
culled from live performances or studio mixes, and their live shows are a
representation of how they create music. These performances give
audiences a fresh perspective on the genius of Mathew Jonson as well as
the future of electronic music itself.
Two and a half years after
their debut LP, 23 Seconds dazzled critics and lit up dance floors
worldwide, Cobblestone Jazz are back with a powerhouse new album that
captures their live-in-the-studio energy like never before. A mixture of
heady, jazz-inspired house grooves and below-the-belt analog funk, it
raises the bar for electronic dance music in 2010.
Titled The
Modern Deep Left Quartet, the record marks an important addition to the
Cobblestone Jazz lineup, as the trio of Mathew Jonson, Danuel Tate and
Tyger Dhula brings aboard Colin de la Plante (aka the Mole). De la
Plante is no newcomer to the Cobblestone crew: the four musicians have
been playing together for nearly 15 years, since their first
performances in small-town Victoria, British Columbia, and they've all
shared the stage as the Modern Deep Left Quartet. (In 2005, they also
recorded an EP for the band's Wagon Repair label, which is also
responsible for the vinyl release of The Modern Deep Left Quartet.) Now,
using the moniker as their new album title, the band officially anoints
de la Plante a full-time member of the studio lineup.
The band
recorded the album during three intense weeks over the summer. With
Jonson and de la Plante living in Berlin and Tate and Dhula holding down
the fort in Victoria, they stay on top of their game by touring once
every other month, taking advantage of downtime between gigs to rehearse
and record in their Berlin studio. "Rehearse" and "record" actually
mean virtually the same thing for Cobblestone Jazz: their method is
spontaneous, in part because their gear requires it. There's no saving
patches with the analog machines like theirs—antiques like the TR-808,
TR-909 and SH-101; newfangled headscratchers like Cwejman and Doepfer
modular synths; strange, custom-built doohickeys of uncertain purpose;
and of course Tate's trusty vocoder and Fender Rhodes.
Tracks
begin from scratch and develop across freeform jam sessions that often
see day turning into night (and sometimes, back to day—and back to
night.) The final mix is done in real-time, with three of the four
musicians spread out across a semi-circle of machines, attacking all the
buttons, knobs and faders they can handle, yelling out the changes,
filtering and looping on the fly. At the same time, Tate lays down his
Rhodes solos and accompaniments in one shot. If the band doesn't like a
given take, they do it again.
Rather than making the music
busier, the extra set of hands has finessed it even further. All the
staples of the Cobblestone Jazz sound are there: subtly swinging machine
beats, mindbending arpeggios, Detroit-inspired chord progressions and,
of course, powerful bass lines that roll like beads of quicksilver. But
the sound of The Modern Deep Left Quartet is unusually fluid, open and
nuanced. In marked contrast to today's hypercompressed, digitalist dance
music, this is a sound that breathes like no other. The more deeply you
listen, the more hidden details you'll hear.
Album opener
"Chance Dub" sets the record's tone with gently cycling chords, trim
drum programming and heavy sub-bass: a seductive take on modern house,
with an almost Zen-like sense of calm. Tempos ratchet up a notch with
"Sun Child," a slab of classic techno-jazz slicked with sliding bass
action and subliminal vocal loops; Tate's Rhodes solo beams like a
Balearic Herbie Hancock.
"Mr. Polite" wears one hell of a
devilish grin: it comes on like a Cheshire cat, beginning with a leering
bass-and-drums bump and eventually fleshing out into a fat groove
stuffed with eerie pads, weird effects and a fuzzed vocal refrain that
just won't quit. True to its title, "Cromagnon Man" is machine funk at
its most primal, hammering away at bone-dry snares and a tough, leathery
bass line.
The album's heaviest cut, "Fiesta" will be familiar
to anyone who heard its acidic sequences turn clubs to mush throughout
2009. Reprised from Cobblestone Jazz's Traffic Jam EP, it's a maelstrom
of controlled mayhem, swirling with slippery arpeggios and vocoder
strains. The hypnotic "Children," is comparatively subdued, with muted
bass chords and vocal shots bouncing over a shaker-heavy rhythm. But
it's quicker, too, and somehow unusually self-assured; you might even
say optimistic.
"Chance," the vocal version of the album's
opening track, takes Cobblestone Jazz as deep into song-form as they've
ever gone. Over nimble bass/drums interplay, Tate's Rhodes solo shows a
rare degree of elegance and lyricism. "Midnight Sun" closes things out
with a significant change in direction, slowing down to 95 BPM to dive
into a dubby fantasia of slo-mo disco, Latin shuffle and otherworldly
synthesizers—proof that Cobblestone's steps extend far beyond
four-to-the-floor. Follow along as they go modern, deep and far to the
left.
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