The Sway Machinery—a Brooklyn-based collective that performs a cosmopolitan amalgam inspired by ancient Jewish Cantorial music, blues, afro-beat and rock—just released their new record to critical acclaim. The House of Friendly Ghosts, Volume 1, which is out today on JDub Records, has been praised by NPR’s All Things Considered, The New York Times, Relix, Pitchfork, AOL’s Spinner and more. The band is on tour now, with dates at Echoplex in Los Angeles, the Great American Music Hall in San Francisco as well as South By Southwest. Please see below for a list of performances.
Building on the success of Sway Machinery’s previous recording Hidden Melodies Revealed that garnered critical praise from the Village Voice, SPIN and Very Short List, the upcoming album and tour dates feature Timbuktu vocal superstar Khaira Arby.
The music video for the song “Gawad Teriamou” premiered recently as a featured video on YouTube’s Music page:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HmtFX-r-0p8&feature=spotlight
Chronicling Sway Machinery founder and mastermind Jeremiah Lockwood and company’s journey to Mali’s Festival in the Desert earlier this year (to which they were the first Jewish band to ever be invited) and subsequent collaboration with Arby, the album explores the ideas of diaspora, pilgrimage and spirituality by pulling together an array of content including Arby’s songs, Lockwood’s compositions and field recordings captured along the way. While at the remote festival gathering, the band performed with numerous Tuareg ensembles and watched as its broad base of influences meshed with those of some of the region’s most crucial artists.
The Sway Machinery consists of Lockwood (guitar and vocals, Balkan Beat Box), Stuart Bogie (tenor saxophone, Antibalas), Jordan McLean (trumpet, Antibalas), John Bollinger (drums, Barbez), Colin Stetson (bass saxophone, Arcade Fire).
In addition to Arby, whose voice is featured prominently, The House of Friendly Ghosts, Volume 1 includes a diverse selection of special guests including original Super Rail Band guitarist Djelimady Tounkara, rising star Vieux Farka Touré, souko (one-string violin) master Zoumana Tereta, Gao-based Takamba band Super 11, as well as Sway Machinery’s extended Brooklyn family of Matt Bauder, Kenny Warren and Rich Stein.
For Lockwood, The Sway Machinery is about excavating cultural history as a spiritual catalyst. Travelling to Mali and delving into the Tuareg musical and spiritual traditions, The Sway Machinery realized the parallels between their own lost Jewish traditions and the transmission of cultural knowledge amongst the Tamashek and Songhai people they lived, performed and travelled with while at the edge of the Sahara.
The Sway Machinery featuring Khaira Arby
March 8 Los Angeles, CA The Echoplex
March 9 San Francisco, CA Great American Music Hall
March 12 Portland, OR Aladdin Theater
March 13 Seattle, WA The Crocodile
March 15 Denver, CO Hi-Dive
March 19 Austin, TX Habana Bar Backyard
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