Move 78
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Move 78 are a Berlin based band whose music is a blend of improvised jazz and drum-heavy
hip-hop.
Move 78
Move 78 are a Berlin based band whose music is a blend of improvised jazz and drum-heavy
hip-hop.
The core line-up consists of Doron Segal (keyboards), Nir Sabag (drums), Hal Strewe (bass),
Meravi Goldman (French horn) and Aver (sampler/production), though the band frequently
collaborates with the likes of Douniah (Melting Pot Music), Aquiles Navarro (Irreversible
Entanglements) and Eric Owusu (Jembaa Groove), as well as a whole host of other stalwarts
from the Berlin scene.
“Blurring the lines between live musical interaction and technology, their music is both
spontaneous and calculated. The final recordings they produce are the result of an artistic
process that has mirrors in visual art disciplines where the end only fully emerges after repeated
expressionistic invention, erasure and addition. Imagine clay or paint being manipulated, torn
away and reshaped until the artist says ‘enough’.” (Justin Turford, Truth & Lies, 2023)
The band name is inspired by a famous Go match (an ancient Chinese board game) between
Lee Sedol, the world champion of Go at the time, and a computer program named AlphaGo.
Having been defeated in the first three games of the five-game match by his AI-powered
opponent, Sedol stunned spectators and commentators by adapting and playing a move so
strange that it completely baffled AlphaGo and its algorithms, leading the program to scramble
for historical data to make sense of it. The move – which represented Sedol’s human response
adapting to meet the challenges of an ever-evolving technological world – was move 78.
Since 2021 Move 78 have released two 7” double a-side singles, a 10” drum break record and
three 12” studio albums: “The Algorithm Smiles Upon You”; “Automated Improvisation”; and
“Grains”. All three received national radio play in Germany, UK, France, Japan and USA,
widespread play on internet stations such as Worldwide FM, NTS and NPR, as well as editorial
playlisting on Spotify and Apple Music, with all their releases combined having received over 15
million streams.
Aver hosts the monthly Move 78 Show on Berlin community radio station Refuge Worldwide.