Oraculu has no qualms about bridging the gap between jazz club and dance floor. For this project, Berlin-based producer Two Thou travelled to London. There, he sought collaborations with, among others, tuba virtuoso Theon Cross, saxophonist Taymour Khajah and Sonny Daze on percussion and vocals – bringing a touch of Berlin’s club aesthetic with him.
As exciting and successful as the London jazz boom of recent years has been, it has also given rise to a certain set of expectations regarding the genre. Oraculu refuses to conform to any clear formula. The tracks take their time, rely on repetition rather than a punchline, and build their momentum slowly rather than spectacularly. Yet Oraculu does not make jazz more »club-like« or club music more »jazzy«. Rather, the album demonstrates that this distinction is entirely unnecessary.
The tuba takes on repetitive patterns, whilst synthesizers and percussion repeatedly break out in exploratory passages. Rather than layering virtuoso solos over stoic beats, a shared musical vocabulary emerges across all levels. Anyone who has already experienced Oraculu live knows the energy contained in these tracks. This makes the hope all the greater that the record will soon find its way into the darker corners of Berlin’s clubs.
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