MONDAY JUL 02, 2018
Grut
Grüt formed in Atlanta in 2015. Its specific birthplace is Elliott St. Pub, a small but essential venue for original and experimental music. Daniel Wytanis (trombone), Patrick Arthur (guitar), Brandon Boone (bass) and Morgan Guerin (drums) did a few improvised sessions at Elliott St., and soon realized there was more to explore together. They met regularly in Morgan’s home studio, a large side room off the lower level of his house, and began to develop some composed/arranged material as well as their own frameworks for improvising.
The members of Grüt each draw from a wide spectrum of genres and influences, an openness that is reflected in all four’s activity as leaders or members of many other types of groups. This unique confluence of disciplines and backgrounds is introducing new sounds to the Atlanta music scene, but their approach is also rooted in the legacy of one of the city’s most beloved musicians, the recently deceased Col. Bruce Hampton. Col. Bruce’s influence is ubiquitous across Southeastern musical communities, and both Brandon Boone and Daniel Wytanis are veterans of his touring band. In the tradition of The Colonel, Grüt blends the predetermined with the spontaneous, is always open to the spirit of the moment, and above all, wants the effect of their music to be a joyful one.
In two short years together, Grüt has performed extensively around Atlanta venues including Elliot St. Pub, Aisle 5, The Buckhead Theatre, and 529, as well as Shapeshifter Lab in New York. They released their first recording, a self-produced, self-titled EP in 2016 and added saxophonist Avys Burroughs to the lineup in 2017. They have opened for Col. Bruce Hampton, Dynamo, and Bill Laurence (of Snarky Puppy). In 2018, they are set to release their first full-length record Side Room Stories, which was recorded in the same studio where the band first began to develop. Upon its release, Grüt plans to tour domestically and internationally in support of it.
Grüt formed in Atlanta in 2015. Its specific birthplace is Elliott St. Pub, a small but essential venue for original and experimental music. Daniel Wytanis (trombone), Patrick Arthur (guitar), Brandon Boone (bass) and Morgan Guerin (drums) did a few improvised sessions at Elliott St., and soon realized there was more to explore together. They met regularly in Morgan’s home studio, a large side room off the lower level of his house, and began to develop some composed/arranged material as well as their own frameworks for improvising.
The members of Grüt each draw from a wide spectrum of genres and influences, an openness that is reflected in all four’s activity as leaders or members of many other types of groups. This unique confluence of disciplines and backgrounds is introducing new sounds to the Atlanta music scene, but their approach is also rooted in the legacy of one of the city’s most beloved musicians, the recently deceased Col. Bruce Hampton. Col. Bruce’s influence is ubiquitous across Southeastern musical communities, and both Brandon Boone and Daniel Wytanis are veterans of his touring band. In the tradition of The Colonel, Grüt blends the predetermined with the spontaneous, is always open to the spirit of the moment, and above all, wants the effect of their music to be a joyful one.
In two short years together, Grüt has performed extensively around Atlanta venues including Elliot St. Pub, Aisle 5, The Buckhead Theatre, and 529, as well as Shapeshifter Lab in New York. They released their first recording, a self-produced, self-titled EP in 2016 and added saxophonist Avys Burroughs to the lineup in 2017. They have opened for Col. Bruce Hampton, Dynamo, and Bill Laurence (of Snarky Puppy). In 2018, they are set to release their first full-length record Side Room Stories, which was recorded in the same studio where the band first began to develop. Upon its release, Grüt plans to tour domestically and internationally in support of it.
Sister Sai
"There’s an amorphous spiritual quality driving Sister Sai’s latest offering, Extempore. From song titles such as “Devotional” and “Glossolalia” to “Wanderer” and “Incarnate,” the album taps into a deeply mystical musical trajectory that reveals itself through the sounds she makes, and the seamless motion of each song drifting into the next. The album is comprised mostly of a one-take, largely unedited session of mind-melting cello loops that, with each listen, reveals layers of depth at work within cellist Saira Raza’s natural musical instincts. Embracing her unorthodox sense of repetition is key to zeroing in on the zoned-out head space that each of these songs occupy. “Glossolalia” is the first immediately arresting number here. Sounds bend and swoop as though they’re being pulled down a drain, moving deeper into her unseen, subconscious mind. The album requires a heady, meditative concentration, as Extempore is more an exercise in automatic writing than it is a collection of composed works. Musically, this is Raza’s equivalent of speaking in tongues. The results are a somewhat convoluted journey into minimalism. Song structures change with each passing listen as the recording moves forever forward, drifting at a dreamlike pace. This is a much different approach from the style on display throughout previous works such as 2016’s Inertia, and 2014’s First Flight EP. This is the unrestrained and unrefined product of what happens when her mind is left to wander — left with nothing more than her musical devices. As such, it’s an experimental album. It’s not the easiest point of entry into Raza’s work, but it’s certainly the most revealing of her musical reflexes, her instincts, and the insights she has to offer." -Creative Loafing Atlanta
"There’s an amorphous spiritual quality driving Sister Sai’s latest offering, Extempore. From song titles such as “Devotional” and “Glossolalia” to “Wanderer” and “Incarnate,” the album taps into a deeply mystical musical trajectory that reveals itself through the sounds she makes, and the seamless motion of each song drifting into the next. The album is comprised mostly of a one-take, largely unedited session of mind-melting cello loops that, with each listen, reveals layers of depth at work within cellist Saira Raza’s natural musical instincts. Embracing her unorthodox sense of repetition is key to zeroing in on the zoned-out head space that each of these songs occupy. “Glossolalia” is the first immediately arresting number here. Sounds bend and swoop as though they’re being pulled down a drain, moving deeper into her unseen, subconscious mind. The album requires a heady, meditative concentration, as Extempore is more an exercise in automatic writing than it is a collection of composed works. Musically, this is Raza’s equivalent of speaking in tongues. The results are a somewhat convoluted journey into minimalism. Song structures change with each passing listen as the recording moves forever forward, drifting at a dreamlike pace. This is a much different approach from the style on display throughout previous works such as 2016’s Inertia, and 2014’s First Flight EP. This is the unrestrained and unrefined product of what happens when her mind is left to wander — left with nothing more than her musical devices. As such, it’s an experimental album. It’s not the easiest point of entry into Raza’s work, but it’s certainly the most revealing of her musical reflexes, her instincts, and the insights she has to offer." -Creative Loafing Atlanta