{"id":7106,"date":"2023-11-05T22:22:35","date_gmt":"2023-11-06T04:22:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/postgenre.org\/staging\/4567\/?p=7106"},"modified":"2023-11-10T22:35:11","modified_gmt":"2023-11-11T04:35:11","slug":"composing-peace-atwood-ferguson","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/postgenre.org\/staging\/4567\/composing-peace-atwood-ferguson\/","title":{"rendered":"Composing Peace: A Conversation with Miguel Atwood-Ferguson on ‘Les Jardins Mystiques, Vol. 1’"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Much attention – rightfully so – over the last several years has been paid to the Los Angeles improvisational music scene. Shapeshifting multi-instrumentalist Atwood-Ferguson has been at the core of those developments with contributions to over six hundred recordings, including many from his home city. He is even on two of this writer\u2019s favorite releases to come out of the LA scene: Flying Lotus\u2019 You\u2019re Dead<\/em>! (Warp, 2014) and Thundercat\u2019s Drunk<\/em> (Brainfeeder, 2017). Given Atwood-Ferguson\u2019s significant recording history, it is surprising he has not previously released a solo leader album. His debut, Les Jardins Mystiques<\/em> Vol. 1 <\/em>(Brainfeeder, 2023), reflects his roots with its impressive list of native and adopted Los Angelino guest artists, including Kamasi Washington, Thundercat, Jeff Parker, Josh Johnson, Carlos Ni\u00f1o, Austin Peralta, Bennie Maupin, and Jamael Dean. The album could have sold itself solely on featuring such a stacked lineup. But Atwood-Ferguson does not seem intent to rest on notoriety. He has a far more important musical message to plant in listeners’ minds.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Describing his music as \u201cactivism\u201d, one may expect the first in Atwood-Ferguson\u2019s Les Jardins Mystiques<\/em> trilogy to express angst or fury about the world’s woes. Instead, one finds a bountiful crop of compositions – fifty-two tracks across three and a half hours – that aurally creates a verdant space for meditation; a bewildering corner where classical music, jazz, ambient music, and electronic music cross-pollinate to breathtaking new hybridized flowers. The pieces are frequently tranquil, even if often mysterious. The songs leave the implication that if one can find inner peace, they can spread it to others as well. If the music can open a rose\u2019s outer petals, perhaps the entire flower will radiantly bloom. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

But musical serenity does not mean the tracks lack movement or all blur into an unidentifiable bed. Each piece has a separate musical identity, as if a different genus of flowers, each with its own unique characteristics. On \u201cPersinette\u201d with Burniss Travis II and Domi and JD Beck, soft shimmering strands blend into a heavy groove. \u201cDragons of Eden\u201d, named after Carl Sagan\u2019s work on the evolution of human intelligence finds a nine-member group with Ambrose Akinmusire and Marcus Gilmore setting a Morricone-like scene, capturing the complexities of human thought. \u201cZiggurat\u201d features MIDI and synth to provide an 80s pop-influenced enigma. The duo with bassist Gabe Noel, \u201cLet the Sunshine In\u201d, is a lush orchestral outing, while \u201cDaydream\u201d often seems to reside somewhere between 70s CTI records and modern lo-fi. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Overall, the first offering of Les Jardins Mystiques<\/em> is a beautiful recording. With the care put into it, it\u2019s clear why the album took fourteen years to become a reality. With all of the contemporary era\u2019s chaos, turmoil, and toxicity, the potent tonic from the flowers in Atwood-Ferguson\u2019s mystical garden may be precisely the antidote the world needs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

PostGenre: Given how many projects you have contributed to, it is surprising that Les Jardins Mystiques Vol. 1<\/em> is your debut as a leader.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n

Miguel Atwood-Ferguson: Yeah, I\u2019ve been taking my time. It wasn\u2019t trepidation or fear that kept me from releasing something earlier, just taking my time. I haven’t felt any rush. Music is completely magical to me, and I’ve told myself that I don’t need to be popular. I don’t need to win awards. I’m not trying to be anything other than my positive, authentic self. I’ll take as many day jobs as needed to support this music so that when it comes time to work on my music, it’s a pure and authentic thing. It’s been a beautiful ride. <\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n

<\/div><\/div>
<\/div>
<\/div>
<\/div><\/div><\/div>