Atlas Maior, Riptide Review
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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.
Positives:
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.
Bottom Line:
Riptide is an expression of the beauty of Middle Eastern modes and phrasing coupled with western Jazz and fusion rhythms and forms. Each player has a unique sound that builds the ensemble to create a focused and unified group sound. Thomson enthusiastically states about the new album, “Our 5th studio release Riptide is the culmination of many creative ideas that have come to fruition. This is the band’s most polished album and its informed by our experiences working together, and the struggles and achievements we’ve experienced as people. There’s a lot of depth, emotion, and expression within the songs on Riptide. Themes of loss, gain, resilience, and perseverance are all in there.” Thomson and the original drummer, Ethan Vlah, co-founded the band and the rich sound palette of Austin Texas has both influenced and embraced the ensemble over the years. This is unique world music that has a wide genre appeal. That’s the short of it!