Phi-Psonics is a meditative, deeply soulful jazz group from Los Angeles, led by bassist Seth Ford-Young and featuring Sylvain Carton on woodwinds, Mitchell Yoshida on electric piano, and Josh Collazo on drums. Their beautiful music draws on jazz and classical influences together with Ford-Young’s own musical experiences, relationships, and his introduction to spirituality, yoga and philosophy at a young age. Along the way they create something uniquely their own, sharing beautiful landscapes for your spirit to roam freely within.
Morning Sun / Arrival was recorded from the same sessions that formed PhiPsonics second album Octava - it’s an emotional, introspective, and unusual approach to meditative jazz that offers us a beautiful space for uplifting contemplation and wields a quiet power to create a spiritually inspiring world of timeless, warm melodies and instrumental exploration for the deep listener and thoughtful voyager. Seth explains: “(Octava) is about change and evolution to a higher version of ourselves. Understanding this journey through the idea of ascending a musical scale and arriving at a new, higher octave is natural especially for a musician. We move, struggle, and work through the various steps or tones and arrive at the octave a new version of ourselves, still the same person, but vibrating at a higher frequency.”
Morning Sun draws direct inspiration from the backdrop of Seth’s neighbourhood and the sounds of a dance party or ‘Quinceñera’ floating through the streets. “The live music in my neighbourhood largely ranges from regional Mexican styles like Mariachi and Banda to Cumbia, Salsa and Reaggeaton , along with Oldies or “Brown-Eyed Soul”. Sometimes the same band will play several of these styles throughout a long evening of music, sometimes more than one band’s sounds will be drifting across the hills creating an interesting “mashup”….all these sounds definitely find their way into my music and I welcome it, it is in the air I breathe everyday, and feels like part of my sonic DNA.”
Recorded at 64 Sound in the Highland Park neighbourhood of Los Angeles, and featuring a beautiful dance between Sylvain Carton’s alto flute and Mitchell Yoshida’s Wurlitzer, ‘Arrival’ emerged from the first band sessions after the Covid lockdowns. Seth remenices: “...we were still shaking off the heaviness of the previous year or so. Arrival felt like a moment to recognize that we had come through something and here we stand. Like always, we can only be where we are at the moment and yet we all came through something to get to this place. Arrival is a contemplation of this idea of being where we are after whatever journey got us here”.
Morning Sun / Arrival was recorded from the same sessions that formed PhiPsonics second album Octava - it’s an emotional, introspective, and unusual approach to meditative jazz that offers us a beautiful space for uplifting contemplation and wields a quiet power to create a spiritually inspiring world of timeless, warm melodies and instrumental exploration for the deep listener and thoughtful voyager. Seth explains: “(Octava) is about change and evolution to a higher version of ourselves. Understanding this journey through the idea of ascending a musical scale and arriving at a new, higher octave is natural especially for a musician. We move, struggle, and work through the various steps or tones and arrive at the octave a new version of ourselves, still the same person, but vibrating at a higher frequency.”
Morning Sun draws direct inspiration from the backdrop of Seth’s neighbourhood and the sounds of a dance party or ‘Quinceñera’ floating through the streets. “The live music in my neighbourhood largely ranges from regional Mexican styles like Mariachi and Banda to Cumbia, Salsa and Reaggeaton , along with Oldies or “Brown-Eyed Soul”. Sometimes the same band will play several of these styles throughout a long evening of music, sometimes more than one band’s sounds will be drifting across the hills creating an interesting “mashup”….all these sounds definitely find their way into my music and I welcome it, it is in the air I breathe everyday, and feels like part of my sonic DNA.”
Recorded at 64 Sound in the Highland Park neighbourhood of Los Angeles, and featuring a beautiful dance between Sylvain Carton’s alto flute and Mitchell Yoshida’s Wurlitzer, ‘Arrival’ emerged from the first band sessions after the Covid lockdowns. Seth remenices: “...we were still shaking off the heaviness of the previous year or so. Arrival felt like a moment to recognize that we had come through something and here we stand. Like always, we can only be where we are at the moment and yet we all came through something to get to this place. Arrival is a contemplation of this idea of being where we are after whatever journey got us here”.
TRACK LISTING
1. Morning Sun
2. Arrival