Helios repeat Mulatu magic with Lloyd Miller

Two years ago funky drummer Malcom Catto and his nine strong Heliocentrics massive joined  Ethio-jazz pioneer Mulatu Astatke on stage as part of Karen P's Broad Casting series at Cargo. The sold-out gig went so well, they wound up collaborating in the studio a few months later on a fantastic album which became the third volume of the Strut label's Inspiration Information project. Evidently, that was just the beginning of Catto's cultural collision experiments.

While critics were heaping praise on the Helios better-than-anticipated Mulatu collabo, Catto and crew were busily making plans for an encore adventure, this time involving legendary ethnomusicologist and mult-instrumentalist Dr. Lloyd Miller. The title of Jazzman's career retrospective of Miller's work, A Lifetime In Oriental Jazz, is quite apt as the longtime University of Utah professor has been exploring Middle Eastern music since his first trip to Iran in the late 50s. Long before the term "world music" was coined, Miller was traveling around Europe in the 60s, applying traditional Middle Eastern instruments, rhythms and scales in different contexts with fellow forward looking artists such as Don Ellis and Jef Gilson. Suffice it to say that Miller was well-prepared for a monumental throwdown with the Heliocentrics crew which is due out August 1 on disc followed by a vinyl release on August 31.
Here's what you're in for...

Fantasia, Part 1

1. ELECTRICONE
2. NAVA
3. MANDALA
4. SPIRITUAL JAZZ
5. BALI BRONZE
6. FANTASIA Pt. 1
7. MODALITY
8. SALENDRO
9. PARI RU
10. LLOYD’S DIATRIBE
11. FANTASIA Pt. 2
12. CHAHARGAH
13. SUNDA SUNSET










Gol-e Gandom by Lloyd Miller on Iranian TV 1965




Yèkèrmo Sèw by Mulatu Astatke & the Heliocentrics



Yèkatit by Mulatu Astatke & the Heliocentrics