Mattson 2

Play "a Love Supreme"

Spiritual Pajamas

John Coltrane’s 1965 magnum opus A Love Supreme is one of the most revered and influential recordings in the history of jazz, widely regarded as the iconic saxophonist’s masterpiece. It might seem audacious at the very least to undertake a new recording of such a foundational album, but twin brothers Jared and Jonathan Mattson are nothing if not sonic risk-takers.  With their new release Mattson 2 Play “A Love Supreme,” the duo reimagines Coltrane’s avant-garde epic through a 21st-century lens, creating a new interpretation that remains faithful to the questing spirit of the original while pushing the music into bold new territory—which itself is fully in keeping with the composer’s forward-looking vision. The album translates the Coltrane Quartet’s acoustic jazz explorations into a modern language swathed in a haze of analog synths, ecstatic guitars, transcendent grooves and enveloping atmospherics. The duo undertook an intensive study of the original composition, Coltrane’s notes, and every available recording by the Coltrane Quartet as well as later versions by the likes of John McLaughlin, Branford Marsalis and Alice Coltrane. They used that vocabulary to create their own take, which they honed through invaluable live performances before audiences largely unfamiliar with the original. “It was so incredible to see the way that a rock fans connected with the music,” Jonathan recalls. “There was yelling and crying, people getting really stoked and devouring every note we were playing. Seeing people’s minds getting blown by Coltrane’s music, was an inspiration for us.” Those visceral reactions attest...

Mattson 2

Agar

Um Yeah Arts

The Mattson 2 are pleased to announce their new full-length album, Agar. The new album finds the Mattsons striding into a new realm of sound that blends their signature jazz soundscapes with ethereal sonic structures and haunting splashes of improvisational raga techniques. This time around, the Mattson 2 have gone deeper and darker, balancing a perfect ebb and tidal flow of sound to create something truly mesmerizing. In order to create the stunning musical journey of Agar, the Mattson 2 teamed up with producer Thomas Campbell and the legendary John X Volaitis – who has worked with the likes of the Rolling Stones, David Bowie and Phoenix.  The much-anticipated follow-up to their dynamic Feeling Hands (2011) is truly a marvel of jazz-rock orchestration and arrangement. The droning vistas of Agar are as technically liberating as they are hauntingly avant-garde. And it shows the duo more connected than ever as they move in and out of Raga forms and the exotic landscapes that transcend the concept of modern musical performance.  Taking the album name from the gelatinous substance that binds and connects items in a petri dish (also “Raga” backwards), one could say Agar is the perfect figurative definition of a duo continually fueling and feeding each other’s sensational musical creativity. Agar shimmers and shakes with sagely nods to the past and the soaring modern wizardry of Jared’s untamed guitars and Jonathan’s tribally-hard-bop drumming. With Campbell and Volaitis at the helm, Agar’s vast sounds and stylings explore new levels of sonic structures while...