Vol 2 out January 20 2023

Artist: London Odense Ensemble
Title: Jaiyede Sessions vol. 2


In recent years London has become an epicenter for experimental, visionary jazz. On this unique session, two of the finest exponents of the London jazz scene, Tamar Osborn and Al MacSween, join forces with members of the celebrated Danish psychedelic underground - Jonas Munk, Jakob Skøtt and Martin Rude – to create a heady sonic brew. On this first volume of material there's everything one could hope for in such a collaboration: sonically it summons the free flowing euphoria of Alice Coltrane and Pharoah Sanders' work in the late 1960s and early 1970s. But there's also a focus on rhythmic energy and vitality that calls to mind the grooviest krautrock or electric period Miles Davis, as well as a healthy dose of electronic experiments. 

Throughout these eight tracks the quintet paints with a colourful palette. Tamar Osborn shifts between baritone sax and flutes. Keyboardist Al MacSween doesn't just stick with the tried and true electric piano - an instrument which he masters - but showers these tracks in analog synths and effects as well. Add to that the fact that Jonas Munk took a somewhat creative approach when editing and mixing these pieces – with effects boxes wired in, occasionally giving the mix a dubby, ambient atmosphere. Similar to Munk and Skøtt's main project, Causa Sui, digging into the past becomes a vehicle to open up the future. What the quintet has created in these sessions is something quite unique.

Bios:
Tamar Osborn: 
Saxophonist, composer and multi-wind instrumentalist is the creative force behind modal jazz ensemble Collocutor (On The Corner Records). She is a member of the Dele Sosimi Afrobeat Orchestra, performs and collaborates regularly with Sarathy Korwar, Jessica Lauren, Emanative, Ill Considered and DJ Khalab.

Al MacSween: 
Keyboard player & founding member of Kefaya. Collaborations include American jazz legend Gary Bartz, Syrian qanun master Maya Youseff, London Community Gospel Choir, Palestinian jazz singer Reem Kelani & kora player Kadialy Kouyate.


Martin Rude: 
Multi-string instrumentalist & lead singer in Sun River. Doubles as stand-in bass player in Causa Sui.

Jakob Skøtt: 
Drummer in Causa Sui with a slew of side projects on El Paraiso, including Chicago Odense Ensemble, as well as being responsible for the label’s visuals.

Jonas Munk:
Guitarist in Causa Sui & studio wizard on most releases on El Paraiso. Also works with a wide palette of electronic music.

London Odense Ensemble: Casper's Green

Rockambo is a bassist from Mount Pleasant, Washington, DC.

Since the pandemic, he's been writing compositions using MIDI instrumentation (and struggling with latency issues on slow computers). He takes equal parts inspiration from Palladium-era Latin jazz (https://www.facebook.com/groups/LFCE893/), vintage 70s jazz-funk (https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCv8l4QR862COAotwH_cw9wQ), 00s electronica (https://somafm.com/spacestation/), contemporary lo-fi (https://open.spotify.com/album/2j4Mjok0KmnQ2ENfWIpUKf?si=MuUDlZW9TAuziw5LLmFjvg), and some ethnic music from the countries where he's lived (https://blog.scuolaleonardo.com/2023/04/25/bella-ciao-one-of-the-most-famous-italian-songs-in-the-world-from-the-resistance-to-money-heist/).

Since he can't find his way around a sequencer, he breaks away from repetitive beat loop patterns and seeks to create more organic pieces. Having said that, he only knows how to use a few DAW platforms which are all primarily loop-based ... it's complicated.

All recordings are original compositions recorded using SoundTrap, (http://www.soundtrap.com), and Audacity (https://www.audacityteam.org). More recently, he's been mastering tracks in Ableton Live Lite (https://www.ableton.com/en/products/live-lite/) and learning how to use MPC Beats (https://www.akaipro.com/mpc-beats) ... he bought some MIDI controllers ... There are no pre-recorded loops. If you are getting into composition, you should grab this (https://www.asio4all.org/).

MIDI is currently being played through an Alesis Vortex Wireless 2 keytar and with a regular ASDF keyboard and a mouse. Rad.

The mixes are low, so turn them up!

Jim Greif says his biggest influence is the Doogie Houser theme song by Mike Post (https://youtu.be/zE4M3hPut7E). 

Rockambo is fluent in neurodiversity and his music is neurodivergent-friendly.

All the appropriate influences are noted where possible. Contact him before using or distributing this material.

Some music-related books worth checking out:
"Analog Days: The Invention and Impact of the Moog Synthesizer" by Frank Trocco, https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/37535.Analog_Days
"How Music Works" by David Byrne, https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/13235689-how-music-works
"Just Kids" by Patti Smith, https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/341879.Just_Kids
"This Is Your Brain on Music: The Science of a Human Obsession"
by Daniel J. Levitin, https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/141565.This_Is_Your_Brain_on_Music
"Under the Big Black Sun: A Personal History of L.A. Punk"
by John Doe, Tom DeSavia
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/25898106-under-the-big-black-sun

London Odense Ensemble: Casper's Green

elparaisorecords