This is the debut release by The Embassadors, an international music collective formed by reed player/producer/Burnt Friedman collaborator, Hayden Chisholm. The collective is the result of over 12 years of Chisholm's globetrotting and co-productions, collecting musical information and forging musical bonds. After years of worldwide music research, touring with groups like Root 70, Pluramon, Burnt Friedman/Jaki Liebezeit, and creating the music for Rebecca Horn installations, Chisholm felt ready to begin tying it all together. The collective is made up of the trombonist Nils Wogram, Europe's leading trombone soloist; bassist Matt Penman, NYC's first-call bassist and collaborator with John Scofield; drummer Jochen Rueckert, often imitated and sought-after by figures like Pat Matheny and Madeleine Peyroux; violist and vocalist Gareth Lubbe, known as one of the top overtone singers in the world and principal violist in the Leipziger Gewandhaus; cellist Claudio Bohórquez, one of the world's top classical soloists with a unique faculty for improvising, and Hayden Chisholm on reeds and keys. With this diverse ensemble, Chisholm has brought together leading figures from across genres, setting the foundations for what is a truly global music collective of the highest order. Also featured on this release is the vocalist and multi-instrumentalist from Kenya, Michel Ongaru. As Chisholm describes: "I wrote the words in English, Michel would put them into Swahili and churn them out at light speed on his Braille machine and Rob would fire up the tapes. The dots on the page were then brought to life by Michel's voice, echoing through the burnt-out empty rooms of the third floor." |