Spoke Swing from Strata by Oscilliard
One of my first jobs was in the jazz department of a record store, so swing became ingrained in me. As well as the old swing band greats I was always playing the contemporary stuff of the time; I sold so many copies of Polar Bear and Acoustic Ladyland’s debut albums because I was obsessed with playing them. The melodic material of this track is all octatonic, a scale favoured by Stravinsky. He is one of my favourite composers; experiencing the ballet of The Rite of Spring is always a thrilling, spine-tingling joy. The slightly distorted trombone, played by Sarah Mann, jumps right back to the sound of Willie Colón’s Latin Jazz recordings from the late 60’s.
Oscilliard make dance music, or more accurately, music made for dancing. Strata draws upon a global, kaleidoscopic range of dance for inspiration; from Balinese to American Lindy Hop, from medieval steps to cutting loose at a warehouse party, from the height of disco to arabesques at the ballet. The project is led by bassist and composer Justin Foster.