When the Spirit Moves

Percussive excursions into an orchestral field.

The music of ‘When the Spirit Moves’ is a celebration of the few meeting the many: with the drums of David Jones at its centre, the three pieces that make up this EP are an exploration into the many musical voices of the jazz orchestra.

The sound of brass meets the rhythm of the drum and the groove of the guitar. A trumpet rides on the glistening waves of sound, the pulsing of reverb trails and the catapulting of delay patterns. Each piece a nutritious meal, served according to tradition: soup first, then the Brussels sprouts, followed by a delicious dessert.

During the challenging years that were 2020 and 2021, I decided to translate the vibe of the times into music inspired by Keith Jarrett’s statement: “Tough times call for tough harmonies.”

This music is meant to be explored slowly, like a mountaineer ascending to the top, upon each listening more layers of sound revealing themselves. This music is ‘grow-with-time music’ — the time that it takes to let your ears expand and wrap themselves around the musical ideas presented, is rewarded like the extra marshmallow in the Stanford delayed gratification experiment of the seventies.

Can music ever be too deep? With sounds that are made now and with a harmonic flow where details have been considered and soaked in attention, the music that emerges attempts to point to the timeless.

David Jones, drummer extraordinaire, contributes a flow to this music, a pulse that, like a densely woven cloth, wraps around each instrument. His textures and sonic sojourns guide the listener to places of discovery, surprise and completion — always abundant with musical here-now-ness and sparkle.

What happens when the Spirit moves? What decides its timing? The musical compositions within this collection of tunes are pointing to a struggle and a celebration. My spirit wants to share the celebration of stillness at the centre of the cyclone. The music made by meditators inevitably will carry the fragrance of meditation.
Available for you to receive, my dear listener!

Sambodhi Prem

11th of August, 2021
Mount Franklin, Victoria
Australia

Listen to 'When the Spirit Moves'

Tracks

1.  Drawing Near (time signature: 4/4)
2.  Drawing Up (time signature: 7/4)
3.  Drawing Out (time signature: 5/4)

Personel

• Piano, electric guitar and sound modules — Sambodhi Prem
• Drums and percussion — David Jones
• Trumpet on 'Drawing Up' — John Fumo
• Mastering — Martin Pullan (Edensound Mastering)