AMBROSE AKINMUSIRE - OWL SONG VINYL (LP)

Release Date: 22nd December 2023

"Composer and trumpeter Ambrose Akinmusire makes his Nonesuch Records debut with Owl Song on December 15. The album features a trio with two musicians Akinmusire has long admired, guitarist Bill Frisell and drummer Herlin Riley. Akinmusire says of ‘Owl Song 1’, “I have special affinity for the owls. Their personality is so distinctive—always observing. I should add that the titles don’t have huge significance in terms of what they mean—my process is not so literal,” he adds. “I wrote these songs for the people in mind who would play. I was focused on coming up with a set of music … the titles were placeholders that stayed. So, ‘Owl Song 1’ and ‘2.’” Ambrose Akinmusire’s musical gifts developed rapidly. He grew up in Oakland, California, and while in high school he caught the attention of saxophonist Steve Coleman. Akinmusire joined Coleman’s Five Elements at age nineteen, touring while also a student at Manhattan School of Music. He then pursued further study—earning a master’s degree at the University of Southern California, then attending the Thelonius Monk Institute in Los Angeles, where his mentors included Wayne Shorter and Herbie Hancock. He is currently the Artistic Director of the Hancock Institute. In 2010, he was signed to Blue Note Records; his debut for the label, When the Heart Emerges Glistening, drew worldwide accolades. The Los Angeles Times observed that “Akinmusire sounds less like a rising star than one that was already at great heights and just waiting to be discovered.” In the wake of the acclaim for his debut, Akinmusire composed music for strings and voice (The Imagined Savior Is Far Easier to Paint, 2014), appeared on Kendrick Lamar’s landmark To Pimp a Butterfly (2015), and conjured a tapestry called Origami Harvest (2018) that explored the complexities of Black. His next project, On the Tender Spot of Every Calloused Moment, furthered that narrative direction. Released two weeks after the murder of George Floyd, it contained poignant laments about income inequality and the effects of rapid gentrification on communities like those in the Bay Area where he grew up. Owl Song is the first of three records Akinmusire is releasing on Nonesuch over the next year. Each will spotlight a distinct element of his musical world and involve different instrumentation and production approaches. ""