Los Angeles-based
Miguel Atwood-Ferguson
is a string-playing multi-instrumentalist, arranger, composer, and producer. He has contributed to over 600 recordings in several genres, and conducted live reimaginings of
Charlie Parker with Strings
in New York's Central Park, and
Floating Points
'
Promises
at the Hollywood Bowl. He's at home in virtually every musical setting. Remarkably,
Les Jardins Mystiques, Vol. 1
is his debut solo album. Written, arranged, and recorded over 14 years, its 52 tracks span three-and-a-half hours. The music is a confluence of improv, jazz, classical, crossover, ambient, etc. It is the star-studded first entry in a projected ten-hour trilogy. Dozens of musicians recorded this music, many of them heavy hitters. Half these tracks are under two minutes:
Atwood-Ferguson
employs them as segues, introductions, interludes, and occasionally, self-contained compositions.
Gentle opener "Kiseki" melds ambient and chamber jazz and sounds like dawn breaking over the sea.
's strings and
Bennie Maupin
's gorgeous bass clarinet offer the sonic backdrop while
Josh Nelson
's Debussian piano and
Josh Johnson
's flute play atop drummer
Marcus Gilmore
's elegant brush work. "Persinette" is electric jazz. Violin and viola are supported by
Burniss Travis II
's bumping electric bassline as
DOMi and J.D. Beck
-- on keys and drums, respectively -- offer a skittering, syncopated backbeat. "Eudaimonia" is an early entry here and comprises a ten-minute post-bop piano and viola duet with the late, gifted
Austin Peralta
, who died in 2012. The live "Ano-Yo" features guitarist
Jeff Parker
and pianist
Greg Spero
with two saxophonists, flute, B-3, drums, percussion, and strings, in a bluesy,
Monk
-inspired groover. "Kairos (Amor Fati)" juxtaposes
Hermeto Pascoal
's futurist take on jazz samba with lyric horns, reeds, and winds, held down by
Thundercat
's thrumming bass and
Gilmore
's kit. "LégaÌ?si" is played solo on electric violin for two minutes before
Nelson
's piano,
's brushed toms, and
Johnson
's soft alto sax fold in. "Tzedakah" is an extended example of
's "world fusion" strategy; it's played by a small orchestra of synths, guitar, oud, harp, bouzouki, and brass. "Kairos (Kefi)" offers a hooky, intricate melody under an umbrella of jazz fusion, electronica, and orchestra music, punctuated by a smoking keyboard solo from
DOMi
, atop
JD Beck
's hyper-precise drumming. "Ziya" is a jazz ballad played by a septet with pianist
Vardan Ovsepian
, cellist
Artyom Manukyan
, bassist
Gabe Noel
, and bass clarinetist
Brian Walsh
. "Dream Dance" is a near-suite that traverses hard and post-bop, Latin grooves, and soulful jazz-funk, while "Moksha" is a hovering six-minute vehicle for
Carlos Nino
's percussion and electronics. "Aravita" impressionistically joins reversed electric guitar and acoustic violin and viola to upright bass and cello. Brief closer "Sweet Invitation" offers
tenderly playing violin, viola, and cello. While some shorter pieces seem slight initially, repeated listening reveals the strategy, resonance, and import their inclusion and sequencing bear.
Les Jardins Mystiques, Vol.1
is certainly a monolithic package, but it's more than that: it's a statement that reveals the vastness of
's inspiration, creative breadth, and musical vision without compromise. Unique? Sure. But also profound. ~ Thom Jurek