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The Sway Machinery

Release

03/03/2015

About

For those who have seen The Sway Machinery in action, little explanation is needed. The band's combination of rhythmic power and potent folklore takes no prisoners. On stage the energy of submerged worlds is torn out into the light of day. And indeed, the historical tradition of Cantorial music, which ...

is the focus of the band's work, is very much a lost world. The music of The Sway Machinery invites the listener to become like children wandering in the forest, discovering something mythic and wonderful.

The band's sound is rooted in the personal history of bandleader Jeremiah Lockwood, whose storied education included singing in the choir of his grandfather, Cantor Jacob Konigsberg and over a decade of playing in the subways of New York City with Piedmont Blues legend Carolina Slim. Lockwood's musical vision of worlds colliding in the experience of the individual has been aided and abetted by a stellar cast of band mates. Foremost in the collective of brilliant musicians that make up the band is drummer John Bollinger, of Barbez. Numerous illustrious alumnae of Antibalas helped found the group and make up the touring ensemble, including trumpeter Jordan McLean, bass player Nikhil Yerawadekar and guitarist Timothy Allen. The band is fortunate to boast Anthony Braxton and Arcade Fire sideman Matt Bauder on tenor saxophone. Past members of the collective have included bass saxophonist Colin Stetson, drummer Brian Chase, Israeli percussionist Tomer Tzur and saxophonist Stuart Bogie.

In January of 2010, The Sway Machinery traveled to Mali to perform at the legendary Festival of the Desert. While in Africa, the group recorded its second full-length album, The House of Friendly Ghosts Vol.1, which came out on JDub Records in March of 2011. The record featured collaborations with luminaries of Malian music, including Vieux Farka Toure and Khaira Arby. The band toured nationally and in Europe in support of the album, including numerous appearances with Khaira Arby.

In 2012 The Sway Machinery continued to burn up dance floors and festival stages around the world, including debuts in Australia, Israel, Warsaw and at legendary festivals Montreal Jazz and Roskilde in Denmark. In 2013 the band released an EP of new songs entitled Monsters of the Ancient World, released as a free download on the band’s website.

In March 2015, The Sway Machinery will release their third LP, entitled Purity and Danger, on 3^rd Generation Records. On this new album, the band delves deeply into dialogue with ghosts and saints, juxtaposing songs about the subway and dead lovers with 200-year-old Cantorial melodies performed for the first time in generations. This new record is the most lucid statement of the band’s foundational concept to date: driven but tender, ecstatic and serene. It is sure to turn heads around the world.

www.swaymachinery.com

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Rock | World Music/Contemporary | Jazz

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Publicist

Garrett Baker

garrett@flipswitchpr.com

The Sway Machinery Revives the Dead With Their Third LP

3rd Generation Recordings announces the release of Purity and Danger, the new LP from NYC stalwarts The Sway Machinery

CD Release shows:
March 1st - Brooklyn, NY. Baby's All Right. 6:00pm
March 10th - Oakland, CA. Leo's 9:00pm

Purity and Danger, the follow up to the critically acclaimed 2011 release The House of Friendly Ghosts, is The Sway Machinery’s third full length album and the clearest articulation of the band’s mission to date. The new album presents The Sway Machinery’s unique sound that emerges from the intersection between past and future.

Bandleader Jeremiah Lockwood says about the music that, “The Sway Machinery is on a mission to liberate the ghosts. We refuse to keep the enmity of dead men alive. Instead, we mine the past to resurrect the joys and myths of our friends, the ghosts. We claim their songs as our rightful inheritance, and offer them to you to be used as tools of liberation.”

Coming with a collection of headbangers culled from the vault of century-old sacred Ashkenazi Jewish melodies, The Sway Machinery offers its most detailed and precise evocation of the soul of the past. The record displays the band’s trademark sound that mines the world’s popular musics for gold in which to set the jewels of Cantorial melodies. The record features a set of fresh material, as well as a handful of unrecorded classics that have been honed for years on stage.

The Sway Machinery’s incomparable musicians are a brotherhood of artists with decades of experience in NYC’s afro-beat, neo-funk, experimental and blues scenes. The players are members or sidemen in popular contemporary groups such as Antibalas, Iron and Wine and Arcade Fire.

The Sway Machinery’s new album represents a ritual gesture that welcomes the listener in with a spirit of love. Purity and Danger projects a sound equally at home on the festival stage, the dance floor and the deep listening space of your stereo or headphones. With this latest installation of the band’s ongoing trajectory, The Sway Machinery has created its most chiseled enunciation of its foundational concept.

http://www.3rdgenerationrecordings.com/

Dispatch Details

Release Title:

Purity and Danger

Record Label:

3rd Generation Recordings

Release Type:

Digital & Physical

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