Atlas Maior, Riptide Review
Connect with Atlas Maior: Facebook |
Atlas Maior is an Austin, TX based ensemble that fuses the sounds of Progressive Jazz, Middle Eastern and Indian traditions, and Latin American musical idioms. Atlas Maior composes music and improvises through exploring maqamat (the Middle Eastern modal system) and harmonic progressions found in American jazz. The group composes with a wide variety of rhythms and traditional percussion instruments including the Indian tablas, Middle Eastern dumbek, Peruvian cajón, and Brazilian pandeiro. Atlas Maior is releasing their new full-length album Riptide, out May 3, 2019, and will celebrate the release with a hometown performance at Stay Gold on May 24, 2019. Recorded in 2018 at Austin’s Bell Tree Studio, Riptide is the culmination of several years of the Atlas Maior compositional process by band members Joshua Thomson (alto saxophone), Charlie Lockwood (oud – Middle Eastern fretless lute), Josh Peters (oud), and Ted Camat (drums, percussion). The album is bolstered by several featured guest artists and regular contributors to Atlas Maior, including violin maestro Robert Riggio (Atash, Youssou N’dour, Fayrouz), rhythm section talents Gary Calhoun James (double bass), Tarik Hassan (double bass), and Palestinian oud player Sari Andoni. Riptide was produced by Thomson and Lockwood, mixed by Gary Calhoun James, & mastered by Carl Saff.
Riptide
Riptide (single)
Release Date: April 19, 2019
Self-Released
6:06 minutes
The exotic meets the unexpected to form a musical sound that is hypnotic and contagious. Excellent playing and composing sets Atlas Maior up for success.