From the recording Elephant Walk
Ari Joshua with John Medeski and Billy Martin together comprise an organ trio, also hearkening sounds of a classic piano trio. Medeski’s piano glides gracefully, a free-flowing flourish of swampy embellishments, fat organ tones bubbling up from below. Instead of using a traditional drum kit, Billy Martin orchestrates several layers of percussion at once to create a blanket of polyrhythms, alive and ever-evolving, melodious cowbell lighting up with the flavors of New Orleans funk. As the opening melody meanders, Joshua’s guitar emerges with a deep, resonant bellow, twisting and lowing like an elephant raising its own trunk. Medeski launches into inspired improvisation — a percussion solo from Martin, spacious and sweeping, brings “Elephant Walk” full circle.
Top-notch audio work by everyone involved — engineering by Chris Bittner at Applehead Recording in Woodstock, NY, mastering by Ed Brooks of Resonant Mastering and mixing by Ari Raskin of Deepwater Studios in New York City — all helped to bring the release of “Elephant Walk” to life. For the artwork, Paul Delaney points to the poetic narrative taking place within the music.
“In my mind, ’Elephant Walk' is a carefree and whimsical melody, a musical tale of a young elephant embarking on a quest for truth and freedom, exploring the vast landscapes that surround it,” says Joshua. “After millennia of proud strides within its herds, this majestic creature embarks on a soul-searching journey, meeting various animals and symbolic characters along the way.”
“Elephant Walk" is available now on all major streaming platforms.
Ari Joshua is an award-winning guitarist, composer, and producer with a passion for creating music that transcends genre boundaries. He has released nine albums to date, each showcasing his breadth of blues, jazz, and Americana influences. arijoshua.com