MYTHOS, by Altus

MYTHOS

by Altus

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releases June 7, 2024

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1.	Embrace
2.	Lay of the Land
3.	Origin 06:13	info	buy track
4.	Fire Drill
5.	Innocence and After
6.	The Last Gift
7.	Mountain March
8.	Kill The Masters
9.	Revolt

about

Altus, in addition to being a collective, is a relationship between our band and our audience. By engaging in our music the audience creates a shared mythology and community with us. We believe oral traditions, whether musical or mythological, will always vary—performer to performer and performance to performance. Mythos was developed through live performances over the last three years during which storytelling has become an integral part of how we connect with our audience. Mythos takes two important myths relevant to today from Greco Roman and Yoruba cultures and tells them through the lens of Black American music.

We chose The Greek myth of Prometheus and the Yoruba myth of Oludumare because of their overlapping themes of creation, power, struggle, and love, which also happens to mirror the history of Jazz music: Through the innovations of Black Americans, Jazz musicians built the library of Alexandria of modern music only to give it away for free because they knew it was important. And yet, just like Prometheus and Oludumare, Black Americans were punished for this gift.

For both the Prometheus and Oludumare myths we composed musical interpretations drawing on Black American traditions. To us as composers, this means ensuring improvisation plays an integral part in each piece. This allows for individual musicians to shape the story with their unique musical voice. Additionally, it means assimilating traditions in ways that make them our own, such as the talking drum pattern at the heart of “Origin,” the third track on Mythos.

Altus has developed a shared language and a trust that creates a singular sound from the multitude of voices: Neta Raanan on tenor and soprano saxophones, Nathan Reising on alto saxophone, Ryan Sands on drum set and percussion, and ourselves, Dave Adewumi on Trumpet and Isaac Levien on Double Bass. Whether a composition is co-composed or brought in by a single musician it belongs to the band as a whole once it is added to our repertoire. We view this as an act of distributing power. As such, we embody the myths; acting as the catalyst for the creation of music, community, and mythology. With our compositions as the original story, every improvisation and every performance is a retelling."

credits

releases June 7, 2024

Dave Adewumi - Trumpet
Isaac Levien - Bass
Neta Raanan - Tenor Saxophone
Nathan Reising - Alto Saxophone
Ryan Sands - Drums

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about

Altus New York, New York

Altus, a fusion of five gifted musicians—Dave Adewumi, Isaac Levien, Neta Raanan, Nathan Reising, and Ryan Sands—embarks on sonic journeys rooted in a decade-long musical bond. Inspired by Black American improvisational techniques, Altus creates narratives that blur the line between immediate experience and timeless mythologies. ... more

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