INTERVIEW: Atlas Maior get caught in the ‘Riptide’
Photo: Atlas Maior’s new album is called Riptide. Photo courtesy of Alicia Michelle / Provided by Press Junkie PR with permission.
Throw in some American jazz, then perhaps a few progressive elements. Add a dash of Middle Eastern music and some Indian traditional influences. Finally include some Latin American musical idioms, and audiences will land on the spot populated by Atlas Maior, an inventive band that recently released an 11-track album called Riptide.
To achieve their unique sound, the members of Atlas Maior use a number of instruments, including the Indian tabla, Middle Eastern dumbek, Peruvian cajón and Brazilian pandeiro.
Atlas Maior consists of Joshua Thomson on alto saxophone; Charlie Lockwood on the oud, a Middle Eastern fretless lute; Josh Peters, also on the oud; and Ted Camat on drums and percussion. A variety of other musicians helped the bandmates create the sounds on Riptide.
Recently Hollywood Soapbox exchanged emails with Thomson about the album and Atlas Maior’s May 14 concert at Brooklyn’s Maqam Hang. Questions and answers have been slightly edited for style.
What inspired the album Riptide?
Riptide is Atlas Maior’s fifth studio release and is the culmination of music ideas by Joshua Thomson, Charlie Lockwood and Ted Camat. The compositions on the album are influenced by the group’s experiences abroad in Spain and Turkey working together, and are informed by the group’s love and interest in Arab, Ethiopian, Jazz, Latin and Turkish music forms. Themes of love, loss and perseverance permeate throughout the album. The making of the album was in some ways cathartic and also was a celebration of the work that the three of us have done together for the last six to seven years.
How complicated and long was the recording of the album?
It was a long process. We started working on the album in December of 2017, so it took us a year and a half. We recorded the album live, but did do studio editing and some overdubbing. Busy schedules definitely extended the album process, but it was all very smooth … since we’ve all been making albums together as a band since 2010.
Gary Calhoun James did a phenomenal job engineering the album, and we are very comfortable working with him. Charlie Lockwood and I co-produced the album.
Any unique instruments used to create the sounds on the album?
The Middle Eastern fretless lute known as the oud is all over the album. This is the instrument that we use that is the most unknown to western audiences. The oud is very integral to Atlas Maior’s group sound.
How would you define the sound of Atlas Maior?
Atlas Maior is a modern jazz group influenced by the music of the Middle East, North Africa, India and Latin America. On the album Riptide, we have own interpretations and arrangements of the Greek tune ‘Trata,’ the Afghani tune ‘Nastaran’ and Turkish composition ‘Osman Pehlivan.’
When did you first get into jazz music?
I grew up going to influential Detroit jazz establishments like Baker’s Keyboard Lounge, Bert’s, and frequented Detroit’s Jazz Festival for decades. My time growing up in Arab Detroit (Dearborn, Michigan) and learning jazz in Ann Arbor, Michigan, and Windsor, Ontario, gave me a great musical foundation, which led me to Austin, Texas, where I started studying Arab music and connected with Austin’s diverse and underrated international music scene.
I co-founded Atlas Maior in late 2009, and we recorded our first EP in October of 2010. I’m grateful this band continues [to] forge ahead, performing domestically and internationally, collaborating with inspiring, talented musicians. I look forward to Atlas Maior’s future. Our horizons are widening.
By John Soltes / Publisher / John@HollywoodSoapbox.com
Atlas Maior’s new album is called Riptide. They will perform Tuesday, May 14 at the Maqam Hang in Brooklyn. Click here for more information and tickets.
