September 10, 2021

Atlas Maior

Summary:

Atlas Maior maps diverse musical traditions, placing Jazz, Middle Eastern, and Latin American musical idioms in dialogue with one another.

Atlas Maior maps diverse musical traditions, placing Jazz, Middle Eastern, and Latin American musical idioms in dialogue with one another.  The group composes music that pays homage to the stewards of these traditions and their cultural and geographic origins. Band members Joshua Thomson (alto saxophone, flutes), Charlie Lockwood (oud), and Ted Camat (percussion) create a unique sound that balances intimate moments of sincerity with powerful melodies and incendiary rhythmic passages.  Thomson and Lockwood write original melodies exploring maqamat (the Middle Eastern modal system) and harmonic progressions of American jazz.  Percussionist Ted Camat applies a wide variety of rhythms and traditional percussion instruments including the Middle Eastern dumbek, Peruvian cajón, Brazilian pandero.

The band takes its name from the first world atlas, published by Joan Bleau in Amsterdam in the 17th century. Founded in Austin, TX in 2009, Atlas Maior was inspired by the idea of creating original music encompassing the group’s wide range of musical inspirations, including Egyptian composer Mohammad abdul-Wahhab, Lebanese oud player Rabih Abou-Khalil, bassist Avishai Cohen, jazz artists Jackie McLean, Pharaoh Sanders, Sun Ra, and fusion projects such as Amalgama, Ojos de Brujo, Shakti, and local Austin world music pioneers Atash.

Atlas Maior Website 
Atlas Maior on Facebook
Atlas Maior on CD Baby
Atlas Maior on SoundCloud
Atlas Maior’s Youtube Channel

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