Atlas Maior

Keyif  EP Reviews & Features Atlas Maior Interview & Performance on KUTX Studio 1-A http://kutx.org/musicarchive/atlas-maior-kutx-11-4-15 World Beat Canada – Atlas Maior discusses EP  Keyif  (30 min mark) https://www.mixcloud.com/Calcopyrite/worldbeatcanada-radio-november-7-2015/ Cal Koat of World Beat Canada comments that 3 track EP  Keyif  is: “ Hauntingly stark & beautiful: recorded at Austin’s Bell Tree Studios, Keyif represents 3 years of Atlas Maior’s compositional ideas and travels from members Charlie Lockwood (oud), Joshua Thomson (alto saxophone, flutes), Ted Camat (percussion) and contributing bass player Gary James. Brazil, Turkey and Spain and the Canary Islands provide sonic touchstones for the Keyif EP. Altas Maior was the first world atlas made in 17th century Amsterdam.” — Comments via Pinterest. Keyif  Album Review: Midwest Record Review (Chicago, IL) 11-5-2015 http://midwestrecord.com/MWR1025.html “Cynthia’s Tears” featured on UTNE Reader Magazine: http://www.utne.com/utne-reader-music-sampler.aspx Keyif EP Review – World Music Central (Durham, NC) http://worldmusiccentral.org/2015/10/31/middle-eastern-saxophone-energy/ Atlas Maior Release EP Keyif – Jazz Chill Magazine http://jazzchill.blogspot.com/2015/10/austin-music-group-atlas-maior.html All About Jazz Media Feature: Cynthia’s Tear’s by Atlas Maior from EP  Keyif http://media.allaboutjazz.com/jazzdownload.php?id=10500 =================== KEYIF  PRESS RELEASE For Immediate Release: October 23, 2015 Media Contact:Joshua Thomson, Silver Phantom Booking (313) 258-0378 booking.atlasmaior@gmail.com www.facebook.com/atlasmaior atlasmaior.com Austin’s Atlas Maior Announces New EP  Keyif  Out October 23rd The Sonic Explorers’ Follow Up to 2014’s  Palindrome Austin, Texas USA – World music group Atlas Maior announces a new 3-track EP titled  Keyif , out October 23rd, and will celebrate the release with a local performance at Central Market North on October 24th. Atlas Maior’s influences traverse American Jazz, Middle Eastern traditions and Latin American musical idioms, creating hypnotic, transportive soundscapes with powerful melodies and gripping passages. Istanbul, Turkey acts as the geographic focal point for the group’s new sonic exploration:  Keyif  is a Turkish word that loosely translates to enchantment and delight, a collective feeling that the band members took as a souvenir from their time there. A long way from the plentiful sounds of honky tonk and rock in the capital of Texas, Atlas Maior spearheads the growing Austin world music scene with their superb musicianship and rhythmic wizardry. Recorded at Austin’s Bell Tree Studios, Keyif represents 3 years of Atlas Maior’s compositional ideas and travels from members Charlie Lockwood (oud), Joshua Thomson (alto saxophone, flutes), Ted Camat (percussion) and contributing bass player Gary James. Atlas Maior will celebrate the debut of  Keyif  by hosting an album release party Saturday October 24th, 2015 (6:30pm-9:00pm) at Central Market North (4001 N. Lamar Blvd Austin, TX 78756) featuring Rose Movement Studio belly dancers and Rania Kandil. EP  Keyif  Available for Purchase at: http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/atlasmaior4 Album Release Event Info: https://www.facebook.com/events/1037503329634039/ Keyif  Track “Bête Noire” (radio edit) on Soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/atlas-maior/bete-noire-radio-edit Coverage of  Keyif  by Jazz Chill: http://jazzchill.blogspot.com/2015/10/austin-music-group-atlas-maior.html Press Junkie PR Detailed Album Information For more information, promo requests, or set up an interview, please contact: Joshua Thomson, Silver Phantom Booking (313)258-0378 booking.atlasmaior@gmail.com www.facebook.com/atlasmaior atlasmaior.com more

Austin, Texas October 17, 2014 The world music fusion group Atlas Maior announces the release of their two-disc album Palindrome, available in CD and digital format from online music retailers (CD Baby, iTunes, Amazon mp3, Google Play) on October 17, 2014. During a two-month recording process at Bell Tree Recording Studio in Austin, TX during summer 2013, Atlas Maior experimented with a variety of instrumental and sonic arrangements, exploring different methods of improvisation and cosmologies of sound. Many of these exercises explored themes of symmetries in sound through different instrumental arrangements. The result of these sessions is Palindrome, Atlas Maior's 2014 two-disc album comprised entirely of live improvised material from these studio sessions. The album also features instrumentalist and recording engineer Gary Calhoun James (upright bass, harmonium) and special guests Sari Andoni (oud) and Bob Hoffnar (pedal steel guitar). The release of Palindrome caps off an exciting year of growth for Atlas Maior, which included an international tour in Turkey and Spain, placement of a track from Palindrome in Marrakesh, Morocco's 5th Biennial Art Festival, and a proclamation by Austin's City Council of “Atlas Maior Day” on March 27, 2014. Atlas Maior will celebrate the debut of Palindrome by hosting an album release party Friday October 17th, 2014 (9:00pm-11:00pm) at Whip In (1950 S I H 35, Austin, TX 78704), featuring special guests Sari Andoni and Gary Calhoun James. Palindrome Album Available Now:  http://www.cdbaby.com/Artist/AtlasMaior Album Release Event Info:  https://www.facebook.com/events/732906563454662/ Listen to "iddaa!", a track from Palindrome:  https://soundcloud.com/atlas-maior/iddaa Band Members:  Charlie Lockwood - oud  Joshua Thomson - alto saxophone, flutes  Ted Camat - percussion For more information, promo requests, or set up an interview, please contact:  Joshua Thomson, Silver Phantom Booking  (313)258-0378  booking(dot)atlasmaior(at)gmail(dot)com  http://www.facebook.com/atlasmaior   http://atlasmaior.wordpress.com more

Austin, TX August 13, 2013 Austin, Texas-based world music group Atlas Maior to perform and study traditional and contemporary Turkish music. Group launches Indiegogo campaign to support their Istanbul, Turkey tour The world music fusion group Atlas Maior will travel to Istanbul, Turkey September 9-22nd, 2013 to perform and study traditional and contemporary Turkish music. In addition to performing at a variety of venues in the city, Atlas Maior will be learning performance practices from Istanbul musicians, and analyzing applications of Turkish makam music theory. Atlas Maior is taking their project to Indiegogo to seek support for costs of the tour:  http://igg.me/at/atlasmaior Atlas Maior maps diverse musical traditions by placing Middle Eastern, American Jazz, and Latin American musical idioms in dialogue with one another. Diverse in sonic textures and musical styles, this emergent Austin world fusion group highlights a variety of musical traditions while balancing intimate moments of sincerity with powerful cinematic melodies and incendiary rhythmic grooves. The group is an integral piece of the emerging and vibrant world, traditional and international live music scene in Austin, TX, and is actively performing in Central Texas, San Antonio, and Houston. Atlas Maior’s music is a medley of both soulful and driving melodies played by Charlie Lockwood on the ‘ud (Middle Eastern lute), Joshua Thomson on alto saxophone, and joined by drummer and percussionist Theodore Camat. This sound has brought the band recognition on KUTX 98.9FM’s “Austin Music Minute”, World Beat Online (WOBEON), The Austin Chronicle and Qué Pasó Paisano! Magazine. The group’s 2012 Four Shades album has received radio play on Austin’s KUTX 98.9FM, KVRX 91.7FM, KRTU 91.7FM San Antonio, KCSZ Santa Cruz, CA, and WEMU 89.1FM Ypsilanti, MI. According to Atlas Maior’s Charlie Lockwood, “This tour provides an opportunity to promote intercultural musical education, dialogue, exchange, and further develop music industry relations between the U.S. and Turkey. Austin, Texas and Istanbul are centers of artistic creation and musical activity, and we’d like to help highlight this commonality. We would be honored to serve as cultural ambassadors on this trip”. The group is finalizing performance dates with a variety of music venues in Istanbul, including Kaset Bistro, Babylon, The Jazz Café, and Arka Oda, is receiving housing from the American Research Institute in Istanbul Hostel, and has confirmed music lessons with musicians from the Istanbul Technical University Turkish Music State Conservatory, 'ud master Necati Çelik, multi-instrumentalist Sinan Erdemsel, violinist Husnu Tuzsuz, clarinetist Ramazan Sesler, and ney player Eymen Gurtun. Atlas Maior will be working with these well-respected musicians to establish collaborative performance opportunities while in Istanbul. The group invites further assistance with booking performances in Istanbul, providing cultural and educational opportunities, and communicating with Turkish music ensembles, music venues, and research centers. Current sponsors of this tour include: The American Research Institute in Turkey, Texas Folklife, Turkish Raindrop House of Austin, MetaHara Productions, La Mancha Graphics, TexStyles Designer Fabric Showroom, and Blue Moon Apparel Manufacturing Services. Atlas Maior’s Indiegogo campaign aims to reach a fundraising goal of $2,500. To follow their project, find them on Twitter (@atlasmaior) and Facebook and spread the word to your social media networks. Consider donating as little as $10 to help make their tour a success. If you decide to donate, you will be among those receiving some special Indiegogo perks from the group’s journey to Istanbul. For more information, promo requests, or set up an interview, please contact:  Joshua Thomson, Silver Phantom Booking  (313)258-0378  booking.atlasmaior(at)gmail(dot)com Indiegogo Campaign:  http://igg.me/at/atlasmaior  http://www.facebook.com/atlasmaior  http://atlasmaior.wordpress.com Charlie Lockwood studied Ethnomusicology (M.A.) at the University of California, Santa Barbara, where he played the ‘ud (Arab short-necked fretless lute) in the UCSB Middle East Ensemble, directed by Dr. Scott Marcus, one of the foremost scholars of the Arab maqamat system. In July 2010, Charlie traveled to Cairo, Egypt with the UCSB Middle East Ensemble to play a series of concerts at the Cairo Opera House. He currently serves as Development & Program Associate for Texas Folklife, the National Endowment for the Arts designated Folk & Traditional Arts organization for the state of Texas, and teaches ‘ud at the University of Texas at Austin. Joshua Thomson. a native of Detroit, Michigan, has performed, and studied music in The U.S., Canada, Dominican Republic, and Spain. Studying sociology (B.A.) at the University of Michigan, Thomson conducted field research in the Domincan Republic in 2005. While in Detroit, Thomson co-lead jazz fusion groups Aashram and Timecube. Thomson founded the jazz group Silver Phantom Quartet and co-founded Atlas Maior in Austin, TX in 2009. Thomson has collaborated with a variety of national and international musicians, including Boubacar Diebate (Senegal), Guillermo Anderson (Honduras), Marco Minnemann (Germany), Victor Murillo (Ecuador), and Joe Deninzon (New York). Theodore “Hollywood” Camat, brings his extensive experience in classical, jazz, funk and Afro-Brazilian percussion to the group and adapts traditional Middle Eastern rhythms to drumset. Camat is a full-time drum instructor at Capital Music Center and The Oak Hill Drum Studio, and student of the “Samba do Malandro” dance style. He emphasizes a vibe that is engaging, danceable, and thus, widely accessible to both new and experienced listeners of Eastern and Western culture. The group’s international performance experience, emphasis on education and intercultural musical collaboration leaves them uniquely positioned to serve as cultural ambassadors in Istanbul, Turkey.   Atlas Maior Band Photo   Charlie Lockwood - 'ud Joshua Thomson - alto saxophone Theodore Camat - percussion   more