Greetings dearest gentle readers and music fans. Let’s welcome Seattle-based artist Ari Joshua to our blog. Ari Joshua’s engaging new trio track “Blurry Face” features John Medeski (organ, clavinet) and Billy Martin (drums), who are legendary members of the breakthrough jazz-improv combo Medeski Martin & Wood. On 25th April, they released a song called “Blurry Face”. Let’s get into the details of this song
The song opens with a foot-tapping melody which has just the right tempo. Not too slow and not too fast, it’s just right and it will capture your attention promptly
Musically, The song has this very chill vibe to it. You would want to slow dance to it but, at the same, you would want to just take every single note in with a drink in your hand and just release your stress. When it comes to theme, Joshua believes that You never know when your dreams will come true, so take a chance because if You plant a seed, it just may become a great tree.
The performance, recorded live in a single take at Applehead Studios, embodies the urgency, risk, and connection that constitute great improvised music. The song features Billy Martin, renowned for his deep groove sensitivity and polyrhythmic skill, which has long spanned the gaps between jazz, funk, and experimental percussion. It also features John Medeski, a New England Conservatory alumnus and veteran of ensembles featuring Dewey Redman, Jaco Pastorius, and John Scofield, who contributes his distinct keyboard voice to the session. Finally, we have Ari Joshua, a virtuoso guitarist and composer with roots in jazz, psychedelic rock, and avant-garde music, who is at the center of it all. His guitar tone on “Blurry Face” is shamelessly phat—equal parts fuzz and finesse—interacting with the rhythm section in a dialogue founded in mutual respect and experimental energy.
“Blurry Face” was created at the moment, with no overdubs, just raw takes from legends John Medeski and Billy Martin. Built on a loop Billy developed years ago, this session resulted in a spontaneous dialogue in sound. It’s fun to listen to music that lets you feel and know that the artists had fun making it because it lets you feel like you were there when they were recording it and makes the song that much more entertaining and immersive. I loved this song and I can’t wait to hear more music from the trio
Stream “blurry face” on Spotify
Follow Ari Joshua here and his socials; X, Facebook, Instagram, Bandcamp, YouTube
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