Dawn of Midi - Unusual sounding piano/bass/drums trio

[GovernorSilver]

I saw this trio last night at Black Cat in DC. Pianist Amino Belyamani played a vintage Yamaha CP-something electric piano (real strings, not the digital-era CPs). For the entire set, his left hand was inside the piano, muting strings and/or extracting string harmonics.

 

Some folks here have posted before about reducing jazz to the bare essentials of rhythm. This trio has pretty much done that. Funny thing is, I've just started going to gamelan rehearsals - there's a hypnotic quality to this type of repetition, especially with polyrhythms morphing in and out.

 

http://www.npr.org/2013/08/03/208308232/from-a-jazz-trio-a-hypnotic-work-that-hardly-sounds-like-jazz

[yannis D]

It is hypnotic and interesting, but i have to admit that i can't really listen to this stuff for a long time. Reminds me a lot of "Ronin" from swiss pianist Nik Bartch (which i saw and it was really impressive) but with a more "gamelan-ish" twist.

[GovernorSilver]

Yeah, my friend who alerted me to their show last night admitted that their music works best in a live context - where you can get not only energy from them playing live, but also from a room crowded with people moving to the rhythms. There were a surprising number of people under 25 years old in the crowd too, and a better female-to-male ratio than one would normally expect at this type of instrumental show.

[NewImprov]

I have their last disc, which I enjoy quite a bit. I do have a pretty high tolerance for minimalism, though. They remind me of, as Yannis mentions, Nik Bartsch & Ronin, and also the Australian trio The Necks. It's music that you almost have to will yourself not to be bored to, and then it will suddenly open up and be totally engrossing. I don't expect anyone else to get it, I've given up on raving about how great The Necks are to my friends. That said, I play the Dawn of MIDI disc at work a lot, and it makes pretty great background music.

[yannis D]

Yeah, my friend who alerted me to their show last night admitted that their music works best in a live context - where you can get not only energy from them playing live, but also from a room crowded with people moving to the rhythms. There were a surprising number of people under 25 years old in the crowd too, and a better female-to-male ratio than one would normally expect at this type of instrumental show.

 

 

Its funny but there's an almost hype-ish reception to some adventurous musicians from the young fashionista crowd, you don't see anymore in "normal" jazz or fusion concerts. I myself see many young and beautiful females in the audience of "avant garde" concerts, while the typical in-your-face fusion (or jazz for that matter) gigs, look like a barrack

[GovernorSilver]

Yeah, my friend who alerted me to their show last night admitted that their music works best in a live context - where you can get not only energy from them playing live, but also from a room crowded with people moving to the rhythms. There were a surprising number of people under 25 years old in the crowd too, and a better female-to-male ratio than one would normally expect at this type of instrumental show.

 

 

Its funny but there's an almost hype-ish reception to some adventurous musicians from the young fashionista crowd, you don't see anymore in "normal" jazz or fusion concerts. I myself see many young and beautiful females in the audience of "avant garde" concerts, while the typical in-your-face fusion (or jazz for that matter) gigs, look like a barrack

 

Ah, so it's a worldwide phenomenon, not just happening in American big cities (and temporarily in small cities, during festivals such as Hopskotch Music Fest, which last year took place in Raleigh, NC).

 

Clearly Dawn of Midi has deciphered the secret of attracting the young and beautiful to instrumental music concerts.

[Phnymiboy]

Yeah, my friend who alerted me to their show last night admitted that their music works best in a live context - where you can get not only energy from them playing live, but also from a room crowded with people moving to the rhythms. There were a surprising number of people under 25 years old in the crowd too, and a better female-to-male ratio than one would normally expect at this type of instrumental show.

 

 

Its funny but there's an almost hype-ish reception to some adventurous musicians from the young fashionista crowd, you don't see anymore in "normal" jazz or fusion concerts. I myself see many young and beautiful females in the audience of "avant garde" concerts, while the typical in-your-face fusion (or jazz for that matter) gigs, look like a barrack

 

Ah, so it's a worldwide phenomenon, not just happening in American big cities (and temporarily in small cities, during festivals such as Hopskotch Music Fest, which last year took place in Raleigh, NC).

 

Clearly Dawn of Midi has deciphered the secret of attracting the young and beautiful to instrumental music concerts.

 

The key word is rhythm. They have a sort of laid back EDM vibe to their music. Repetition and groove. That is probably what is attracting the young and beautiful set, especially females. Miles knew what it would take to get young people on board and Dawn of Midi seems to have done the same. I dig it !