“A triumph of inventive rhythmic exploration.” - J. McBeath, The Australian
“Funk, Afro-beat, Jazz: all booty-shaking but mind-bending at the same time.” - J Hardaker, Words About Music
“‘Bone’ conjure’s the same skull-grinning space-griots as Herbie Hancock’s Mwandishi band.” - J Hardaker, Words About Music
“A very 21st-century take on groove... irresistible while also being brilliantly unpredictable. Mighty!” - J. Shand, Music & Other Spheres
20th Century Dog’s new album ‘Bone’ presents a set of musical ideas that have been gnawed on for over a decade. Buried in the yard, dug up, buried in the yard, dug up again. Like any good bone, these have stood the test of time.
Bassist, composer and producer Cameron Undy has spent the past 10 years, putting his energy into building the world- renowned ‘Venue 505’ in Surry Hills, Sydney, and working as a sideman with a diverse range of artists from Jazz legend Pharaoh Sanders to Nu dance floor producers Bugz in the Attic to the number-one selling singer-songwriter Passenger.
Meanwhile, Undy has been steadily developing material for this new album, a collection of uplifting Jazz, Funk, Afro-Beat and Broken-Beat material, delivered by his stellar band, 20th Century Dog, whose 2004 release Mad Stream was described as “something approaching improvised perfection” (John Shand, SMH).
The rhythmic and melodic components on ‘Bone’ are layered among the double drum, percussion, bass, guitar and piano setting, delivering odd-metered grooves in an African hocket style, appealing equally to the body and the mind. The saxophone and bass clarinet melodies capture a folk-like, singable essence while the collective experience opens into areas of group improvisation.
Recorded live at Venue 505 over two days and one evening concert, Bone captures the band’s energy in front of a live audience, coupled with a studio like performance quality.
Jeremy Rose - tenor sax & bass clarinet
Greg Coffin - piano & keys
Ben Hauptmann - guitar
Cameron Undy - bass
Simon Barker - drums & Log
Jamie Cameron - drums
Ben Kidson - percussion
Recorded September 29 & 30, 2016. Composed, arranged and produced by Cameron Undy. Recorded, mixed and mastered by Richard Belkner. Design by Alasdair Nicol.
Available on Earshift Music / MGM December 16th – www.earshift.com
