Agile Experiments 'Tiatoma' featuring Saber Rider and Foken releases today. It's a record about animated atoms coming together, making bigger atoms and those coming together to improvise, stamping and imprinting their true self at a moment in time free from fear. As we should all be able to freely and peacefully live.
I can't imagine releasing an album in these times without using this occasion to show love, respect and infinite gratitude for black lives and the influence their music has had on me. Growing up my father's African-American jazz, blues, rock 'n' roll and soul record collection filled our home with glorious sound. Uncountable hours were spent listening to and emotionally engaging with the sounds of Stevie Wonder's 70's albums. When I started to play drums Dad gave me 'Thrust' by Herbie Hancock, then got me completely hooked on a Weather Report 'Domino Theory Live' VHS which I basically memorised. Even as I got angry in my teens diving in to Heavy Metal my favourite group was actually Living Colour. Their third record 'Stain' really held up against all the other white metal bands but boasted a soulful and powerful social message. Out of the metal phase I dropped in to other African-American artforms: Hip-Hop, Nu Soul and R'n'B. Here I learned about holding back, keeping it real (no matter who you are) and fell in love with the power of ruthless repetition. Meshell Ndegeocello taught me about being a badass, genreless freedom and led me right back to jazz. As a young and inexperienced musician I learned to play in Carl Orr's band where the depth and friendship of 'Level' Neville Malcolm taught me about the relationship between bass and drums and helped me on my first steps in the music business. I've played and loved all kinds of music but had some of my deepest, spiritual and meditational experiences in a decade during which I almost exclusively listened and learned to play music from Africa and Egypt. The whitest musics I have loved since then have been Minimal Techno & Steve Reich's contemporary classical, both of which lifted African music concepts. These days as I've naturally gravitated towards music who's origin stems from Free Jazz so I am yet again in debt with the African-American music tradition. I have been honoured to make music and spend time with many wonderful black artists and friends. I can't imagine what my life would have been like without black lives in it and I don't want to. Black lives matter to me because their lives enrich mine both personally and through art. Agile Experiments is a project that allowes all these influences to emerge through boundaryless collaboration. Ever since its birth it has always been about making a political statement about freedom, about the coming together of all genders or sexual inclinations, of all races, of all ages. We stand by our black and brown brothers and sisters at this moment in time and in to the future.
Peace to all beings,
Black Lives Matter
https://davederosemusic.bandcamp.com/album/tiatoma
