Onom Agemo & the Disco Jumpers - Cranes And Carpets (CD/LP, Agogo Records, 2015)
Another band we've been proud to introduce to the musical world is Berlin-based groove and afro-funk quintet Onom Agemo & the Disco Jumpers, featured in our october 2013 compilation 'Have You Ever Been To Electric Afroland?'. After a 7 inch release of the same tune we had licensed, '2 Feet', where improvisation met raw funk and afro/ethio Jazz, they're now presenting their full-length album 'Cranes & Carpets', out on CD/LP through German label Agogo Records early february. This album is a collection of compositions by travelling sax man Johannes Schleiermacher (also part of the Woima Collective project), inspired by his journeys through the world. The band even travelled to Morocco for playing and recording with a quartet of percussionists / singers in the Issawa tradition, a Sufi Trance Brotherhood in central Morocco. Their groovy explorations, in the vein of the Karl Hector & The Malcouns stuff, take African music into the 21st century through an authentic Ethio-funk-jazz prism. Absolutely killer, unique and original poly-rhythmic afro grooves, sax and psyched-out synths, totally non-mainstream while easy to dip into, at Paris DJs, this is a record we didn't hesitate to buy directly from the label (along with the previous 45, whose 2 tracks are not on the album!) and we urge you to do the same before it becomes a much sought-after neo rare groove rarity.
Onom Agemo & the Disco Jumpers - Cranes And Carpets
(CD/LP) Agogo Records AR051, 2015-02-09
Tracklisting :
01. Trudy The Monster 3:12
02. Le Bess 4:37
03. No Stitches 3:07
04. Cool Runnings 5:16
05. Escape Cultural 9:38
06. Rar 4:19
07. Badminton 4:09
08. Issawa 8:20
Links :
Onom Agemo & the Disco Jumpers : facebook | juno | parisdjs | soundcloud
Agogo Records : official | bandcamp | facebook | parisdjs | soundcloud | twitter | youtube
Press Release :
Berlin-based quintet Onom Agemo & the Disco Jumpers follow up their 7" single on Agogo Records with an album of poly-rhythmic afro grooves, sax and psyched-out synths.
The group has developed a unique groove and style of playing, constructing a collection of eight songs, that throws together tight and funky influences from Morocco and Ethiopia with crunchy analogue synths, spacey organs and effects, and fluid sax and flute lines for a sound that's all their own.
The LP is a collection of compositions by travelling sax man Johannes Schleiermacher, inspired by his journeys through the world. The band even travelled to Morocco for playing and recording with a quartet of percussionists/ singers in the Issawa tradition, a Sufi Trance Brotherhood in central Morocco.
Onom Agemo and the Disco Jumpers have been playing together for years, and it shows. Taking Schleiermacher's compositions, the group rehearse the songs and play them live to finalize the arrangement before recording the tracks to different 4- track tape machines, mostly at drummer Bernd Oezsevim's rehearsal space. Take the track „Cool Runnings“ for example: locked in the groove, the intertwined sax and synth melody moves up and down the Anichihoye scale. Not to be confused with the comedy of the same title, the track is named after a bar in Berlin-Friedrichshain, where friends of the band put on their night Tropical Timewarp.
This interlocking of groove and melody is a signature element, and also inspired the title of the album. Cranes and Carpets alludes to changing patterns, and how the parts of a wider whole can work together in synchronicity. Combine an almost telepathic group intuition with the fact that Schleiermacher also engineered and produced the record, and the pieces start to add up to why the Disco Jumpers sound like they do.
It's an authentic mix of North African rhythms and modes, live jazz musicianship and analogue synths that's reminiscent of electronic African pioneers like William Onyeabor and Manu Dibango as much as modern ensembles like The Heliocentrics. While the album sounds like it could have been discovered on a dusty old tape down a Marrakesh marketplace, it has a modern twist in the neat craftsmanship and tight arrangements that ensures a blend of styles that couldn't be anyone else.
The Band :
Bernd Oezsevim - drums
Kalle Zeier - guitar
Joerg Hochapfel - synth
Kalle Enkelmann - bass
Johannes Schleiermacher - woodwinds, synth., perc.
Onom Agemo & the Disco Jumpers - Cranes And Carpets
(CD/LP) Agogo Records AR051, 2015-02-09
Tracklisting :
01. Trudy The Monster 3:12
02. Le Bess 4:37
03. No Stitches 3:07
04. Cool Runnings 5:16
05. Escape Cultural 9:38
06. Rar 4:19
07. Badminton 4:09
08. Issawa 8:20
Links :
Onom Agemo & the Disco Jumpers : facebook | juno | parisdjs | soundcloud
Agogo Records : official | bandcamp | facebook | parisdjs | soundcloud | twitter | youtube
Press Release :
Berlin-based quintet Onom Agemo & the Disco Jumpers follow up their 7" single on Agogo Records with an album of poly-rhythmic afro grooves, sax and psyched-out synths.
The group has developed a unique groove and style of playing, constructing a collection of eight songs, that throws together tight and funky influences from Morocco and Ethiopia with crunchy analogue synths, spacey organs and effects, and fluid sax and flute lines for a sound that's all their own.
The LP is a collection of compositions by travelling sax man Johannes Schleiermacher, inspired by his journeys through the world. The band even travelled to Morocco for playing and recording with a quartet of percussionists/ singers in the Issawa tradition, a Sufi Trance Brotherhood in central Morocco.
Onom Agemo and the Disco Jumpers have been playing together for years, and it shows. Taking Schleiermacher's compositions, the group rehearse the songs and play them live to finalize the arrangement before recording the tracks to different 4- track tape machines, mostly at drummer Bernd Oezsevim's rehearsal space. Take the track „Cool Runnings“ for example: locked in the groove, the intertwined sax and synth melody moves up and down the Anichihoye scale. Not to be confused with the comedy of the same title, the track is named after a bar in Berlin-Friedrichshain, where friends of the band put on their night Tropical Timewarp.
This interlocking of groove and melody is a signature element, and also inspired the title of the album. Cranes and Carpets alludes to changing patterns, and how the parts of a wider whole can work together in synchronicity. Combine an almost telepathic group intuition with the fact that Schleiermacher also engineered and produced the record, and the pieces start to add up to why the Disco Jumpers sound like they do.
It's an authentic mix of North African rhythms and modes, live jazz musicianship and analogue synths that's reminiscent of electronic African pioneers like William Onyeabor and Manu Dibango as much as modern ensembles like The Heliocentrics. While the album sounds like it could have been discovered on a dusty old tape down a Marrakesh marketplace, it has a modern twist in the neat craftsmanship and tight arrangements that ensures a blend of styles that couldn't be anyone else.
The Band :
Bernd Oezsevim - drums
Kalle Zeier - guitar
Joerg Hochapfel - synth
Kalle Enkelmann - bass
Johannes Schleiermacher - woodwinds, synth., perc.
Original post on Paris DJs