Join us a at Soul Brother this Saturday for a special instore signing and meet and greet with our good friend Myele Manzanza who will be signing copies of his latest release Crisis and Opportunity Volume 3, instore from 13:00. Pop on down and grab a signed copy and get a chance to meet Myele in person!
Myele Manzanza’s third outing on the Deepmatter Crisis and Opportunity series sees Manzanza’s sound develop from the electronic tinged themes of his previous releases to an album that is expressively more articulated, detailed and producer heavy in the vernacular of electronic music. It certainly feels like a digression from some of his previous works that have a slightly more cerebral and serious (chopsy) edge. It is, however, a perfectly natural album for Manzanza to make in the wake of his formative experiences serving as Theo Parrish’s live drummer, a lifelong passion for electronic music and, as the liner notes detail, a keen interest in soulful DJs such as Osunlade, Floating Points and Marcellus Pittman, who themselves are masters of blending electronic music with jazz, soul, funk and anything in between. Even the name of this niche brand of progressive jazz-electronica has been ordained rather comically by Myele—albeit the etymological origins of the phrase as I’m reliably informed originate in Melbourne from Horatio Luna, ZFEX and Lewis Moody—as “jazz-doof”, pungent, truculent, dancefloor-baked music with the instrumental trappings of jazz and the rawness, volume and rhythmical intensity of club music.
Alongside Manzanza’s diverse musical influences and keen interests, the personnel on this album and the musical direction have taken on a totally different form to previous releases; a tantalising switch-up. Enter another antipodean influence, Melbourne born synth merchant and production wizard Lewis Moody whose part in this project is instantly audible. As musical director for the Secret Sundaze Orchestra, bandleader of his own group The Goodmood Project and a leading component of Energy Exchange Records, run in tandem with Berlin based drummer Ziggy Zeitgeist, he is a strong all-rounder with fingers in many pies, musically rooted in serious academic jazz but similarly to Manzanza an insatiable fiend for electronic music. Moody’s contribution imparts deft analogue synthesis and crisp piano chops, a job that he also performs for Berlin based collective Zeitgeist Freedom Energy Exchange. The comparisons between ZFEX’s output and C&O V3 are numerous, both creating music conceptualised for club audiences with strong stylistic attachments to jazz, soul and progressive electronic music. Other names that come to mind are Andy Hart and Harvey Sutherland, who themselves tread the same gauntlet within electronic music while being deeply inspired by Soul and Jazz. Both also happen to be of Oceanic heritage.
As much as Manzanza’s most recent offerings have been more conventionally received as jazz albums, this release fits a different mould, with a surprising emphasis on vocals. Cameos from the likes of China Moses (Dee Dee Bridgewater’s daughter), Rachel Fraser and London singer songwriter Rosie Frater-Taylor are notable. The latter leads an excellent rendition of her own composition Falling Fast, a nimble arrangement which hinges on an off-kilter time signature, showcasing intricate, groovy guitar plucking and subtle rhythmical nuances, her voice ringing sweetly throughout. One of the album highlights is Therapy, featuring London legend Omar on vocals, a fine track which originally started out as an instrumental, save a wishful conversation between Manzanza and Moody that led to them both tracking down and contacting Omar who, presumably between filming episodes of Eastenders, lent them his expertise. The track boasts cool changes, romping sub-frequencies and glittering synths, overscored with Omar’s rich, soulful tones. Drumbella is another album highlight, where Ashton Sellars’ guitar glides over the scales with thudding drumlines and soaring synths providing the atmospherics. After the halfway point, Manzanza’s drums come clanking into motioon, alongside dreamy chord changes. A great track, which possibly should’ve been given slightly longer and resolved itself with more of a satisfying crescendo. A fine demonstration of the fluid interplay between Manzanza and Moody, however.
Almost reminiscent of Detroit techno where producers gave the machines their soul, Myele’s project has re-interpolated the tropes, sounds, rhythms and textures of electronic music back into a live, band-centric context, therefore coming full circle in this intricate game of musical imitation.
Buy the LP HERE
Listen to the tracks below:
Myele Manzanza – Child Ft Rachel Fraser
Myele Manzanza – Gone Up In Flames Ft China Moses
Myele Manzanza – Falling Fast Ft Rosie Frater Taylor
Myele Manzanza – Therapy Ft Omar
Myele Manzanza – Drumbella
Myele Manzanza – Silencing The Sun
Myele Manzanza – Wasterd Time Ft Rosie Frater Taylor
Myele Manzanza – Unfold Ft Rachel Fraser
Myele Manzanza – Crisis and Opportunity
