Like a sundial clock, Global Phatness and Hafez Modir create a sound which shows
us a unique current moment in music. A moment where the world is getting very small
and the interactions of global cultures are paramount.
Download Track: For a limited time, 1 track from Suryaghati is available for free download under
the
Creative Commons Music Sharing License.
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Tracks |
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1 Rahu |
4:32 |
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2 Sani.mp3 |
4:34 |
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3 Sukra |
6:16 |
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4 Brhaspati |
5:51 |
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5 Mangala |
4:31 |
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6 Surya |
5:29 |
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7 Candra |
3:12 |
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8 Ketu |
4:44 |
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9 Budha |
5:51 |
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The goal: to pioneer a new, vital sound – a groove with the intensity of underground
hip hop, the lyrical and improvisational power of modern jazz, and the harmonic
and polyrhythmic resonance of international roots music styles. With a love for
the root essence of traditions and a refusal to compromise or water down, GP looks
beyond the beats and loops and finds original and lasting compositional and melodic
elements that form a compelling and deliberate narrative structure.
What separates Suryaghati from other forgettable discs in the too-cluttered bin
of “worldtronica” is a passion to create originality and permanence from the building
block-influences of distinct roots music styles: Afro-Persian, Afrobeat, underground
hip-hop breakbeats, drum n’ bass, Afro-Brazilian percussion, Gnawa, South-Asian,
Afro-Cuban, Andalucian. The clear and potent result is never secondary or subservient
to a hastily applied electronic beat. Like Sun Ra’s saxophones blasting the cosmic
wisdom of ancient Egypt into the ears of contemporary Western consciousness, emphasizing
the interconnectedness of all things, Suryaghati brings the past into the future
and the future into the past.
"It's not often that a project of this high quality and originality crosses my desk.
Suryaghati is a unique mix of global grooves and jazz blowing that practically creates
its own new genre. Cross cultural fusion music at its best. Highly recommended"
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Bob Duskis / Co-founder Six Degrees Records
“Internationalists of the flavors from
the bazaars of rhythm and melody brew a concoction unique and transcontinentaly
groovy. Take a ride on a painted lorry where the scenery flows by lush, dusty, sculpted
and aromatic to the ears.” – Art Katect
Suryaghati is Sanskrit for ‘Sundial’.
Written and arranged by Global Phatness and Hafez Modir.
Mixed and mastered by Matt Donner and Dan Newman at
Pyramind Studios.
HAFEZ MODIR
tenor, alto, soprano saxophones, ney, alto clarinet, piccolo, karna, shenai, suling,
atenteben.
DAN NEWMAN
Electric and Acoustic guitars, Saz, Banjo, Electric bass, percussion and editing/production.
GUEST PERFORMERS ON SURYAGHATI:
SANAZ EBRIANI
Vocals on Mangala and Surya and editing/production;
DHRUVA GANESEN (Dhamaal)
Doumbek on Rahu.
ROYAL HARTIGAN
Trap Drumset on Candra and Budha.
For more info and business contact, send email to:
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Fluent in English, French and Farsi, Iranian-American Hafez Modir is an accomplished
player of woodwinds who has integrated Iranian, West Asian and African-American
musical cultures and other improvised musical systems into his own signature sound.
His extensive musical experience includes numerous performances and recording sessions
with his own quartet, and the likes of Steve Lacey, Don Cherry, Omar Sosa, Oliver
Lake, the Asian American Jazz Orchestra and numerous other soloists and ensembles.
Hafez has recently returned from his visit to Andalusia where he collaborated with
musicians in Andalucia and Gnawa.
Native San Franciscan DJ/Producer Dan Newman (aka r:sphere) had three major
influences growing up: music, outer space and code. Raised on the set of Sun Ra’s
cult classic film “Space is the Place,” produced by father Jim Newman, Dan was exposed
from an early age the diversity of art and cutting edge music and its interplanetary
influences. At 14, Dan began programming his own video games which would prove to
be a powerful tool in pioneering forward thinking music. During his college years
at Wesleyan University, he studied West African drumming with Ghanaian master drummers
Abraham Adzenyah and Freeman Donkor, and jazz with Bill Baron and Bill Lowe.
Dan’s fascination with spheres permeates his passion and fuels his mission to create
future-sounding music. Dan is a self taught blues and afro-beat guitar player, bassist,
percussionist, and electronic music producer, who has a comprehensive history in
electronic music production, including work with several Bay Area hip-hop artists
in the early 90s (Midnight Voices, Hieroglyphics, the Coup), and collaborations
with the Asian Underground group Dhamaal Soundsystem.
Born in 1978 in Tehran, Iran, Sanaz Ebriani and her family emigrated to the
U.S, like many other Iranian-Americans, to pursue freedom of expression. Sanaz’
father, Jacob Ebriani, a renowned surrealist painter, introduced her at a very young
age to many different kinds of vocalists including Ray Charles, Charles Aznavour,
Edith Piaf, and Los Panchos. Music was entrenched in the history and lineage of
her family, and Sanaz grew up learning Mizrahi and Sephardic chants while surrounded
by both traditional and popular Persian music. Her curiosity and thirst for other
musical idioms began in high school and college when she started studying jazz theory
and vocals.
In 2002, Sanaz relocated to San Francisco to further explore and experience
other cultures and musical visions. Former lead singer of the Middle-Eastern Jewish
ensemble Za’atar, and later the Alex Buccat jazz quartet, Sanaz was able to explore
the juxtaposition of jazz and Middle Eastern vocal approaches. Sanaz has since integrated
various and diverse musical styles including Persian classical, Afro-Cuban folkloric,
Spanish Boleros, French Chanson and Afro-Brazilian to create a vocal sound that
is unique and personal, and forever memorable.
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