The album Floratone is a very cool atmospheric album that resulted from a rare free-form jam between guitarist Bill Frisell and drummer Matt Chamberlain. Producers Tucker Martine and Lee Townsend took the raw tracks and applied their creative license to create an album of spacey instrumental grooves. Floratone’s 11 tracks also feature bassist Viktor Krauss, cornetist Ron Miles and violin/viola player Eyvind Kang.
The album is very interesting because it was built layer by layer, first from the basic jams between Frisell and Chamberlain; then the producers Martine and Townsend added loops and rearranged bits and pieces; bass, horns and strings were multi-tracked by Krauss, Miles and Kang; and finally Bill Frisell and Matt Chamberlain dubbed in another layer of guitars, drums and percussion. I’m not a big jazz fan, but this album offers so many various sounds, that it really takes the listener on a voyage far and away from the commonplace.
Bill Frisell on electric & acoustic guitars, loops
Matt Chamberlain on drums, percussion, loops
Viktor Krauss on bass
Ron Miles on cornet
Eyvind Kang on violin & viola
Produced by Tucker Martine & Lee Townsend
The Floratone sound is, in the words of Townsend, “futuristic roots music,” at turns jazz-vibed, swamp-funky, …