Spirit of Sundaze Ensemble
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Spirit of Sundaze Ensemble (SoSE) is the latest evolution from London based DJ / producer, label and party series Secretsundaze.
Spirit of Sundaze Ensemble
Sitting at the intersection of live music and club culture, leading contemporary musicians reimagine, record and perform a selection of tracks which have been foundational across Secretsundaze’s 20+ year history, embracing a myriad of influences from balearic to synth pop to brit funk.
“The idea for the ensemble came around 2010, in the lead up to Secretsundaze’s 10th birthday celebrations, but we didn’t really get anything moving” says Secretsundaze founder James Priestley. “But with time a plenty during lockdown, the ball started rolling again, hatching plans with Southbank Centre who were very supportive of the idea from the off, giving us the platform of Queen Elizabeth Hall for our debut show. I then approached Lewis Moody — a serious keys player and producer working at the very intersection of jazz, instrumental, and dance music with his Zeitgeist Freedom Energy Exchange and the 30/70 Collective, who was the perfect fit for the role of Musical Director. Once he was on board, everything else started to fall into place – from how to approach the material I wanted to reimagine to the musicians we wanted to bring on board.”
Recording 20 tracks across Fish Factory and Press Play Studios, all the source material has played a key part in Secretsundaze’s rich history since its inception in 2002, as well as lending itself well to the concept and to the unique talents and explorations of the Ensemble members. Priestley explains: “I went deep on some late night listening sessions at home, exploring different reference points, ideas for different tempos, often slowing things down to create more space within the music and to give the key parts and themes more prominence and chance to shine.”
The ensemble’s first single, a re-imagination of Photek’s seminal ‘Mine to Give’, featuring Wayne Snow on vocals, garnered wide support including BBC 6 Music plays from the likes of Gilles Peterson and Nabihah Iqbal, through to NTS and Worldwide FM tastemakers including Zakia, Moxie and Colleen ‘Cosmo’ Murphy.
The Spirit of Sundaze Ensemble is heavily inspired by the London instrumental / jazz scene. “I couldn’t be more proud and appreciative of the level of musicianship we managed to bring together, testament to the musical wealth of the capital right now.” says Priestley. “Myele Manzanza is one of the city’s heaviest drummers who I first caught back in 2014 as part of Theo Parrish’s EU live tour. Oli Savill on percussion has recorded and toured with Basement Jaxx and was a member of Patrick Forge’s seminal afro / brazilian outfit Da Lata. Nikos Ziarkas on guitar is often on the road with Sons of Kemet’s Theon Cross or award winning saxophonist Chelsea Carmichael while Johnny Brierley (bass) is the backbone of London meets Senegal quintet Fofoulah. Having met his wife on the dancefloor of Secretsundaze, Johnny’s the insider, channelling that Sundaze ‘True Dance Music Spirit’, plus we’ve been working with the rising vocal talents of Shivum Sharma and Sahra Gure. Guest collaborators include synth wiz Hinako Omori, flute maestro Tenderlonious and Tomorrow’s Warriors alumni Cherise”
With Lewis Moody at the helm on keys / MD and James playing the role of Executive Producer and Creative Director as well as keys, MPC and FX, the group produces music with warmth, depth, soul, and authenticity that transcends time, following the Secretsundaze mantra ‘hearts not hype’ with typical swagger.