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Morton Gaster Papadopoulos Premiere “The Burnt Offerings”

Posted in audiObelisk on June 22nd, 2020 by JJ Koczan

Morton Gaster Papadopoulos

If the guys from Morton Gaster Papadopoulos aren’t careful, they’re going to end up being an actual band. You might recall last summer a jam was premiered here by the project featuring Yanni Papadopoulos of Stinking LizavetaJean-Paul Gaster of Clutch and Mark Morton from Lamb of God, and the trio are back with what might legitimately be called a single in the form of “The Burnt Offerings.” The new track brings them into more structured songcraft, and they sure sound like a band. With Naeemah Maddox on vocals and Chris Brooks on keys, “The Burnt Offerings” wants nothing for arrangement or intensity, and while noting that something “speaks to the moment” has actually become one of the moment’s most brutal cliches, Maddox‘s voice as a woman of color resonates in the early verses. It is a voice that needs to be heard, especially in an underground so predominantly, exhaustingly white and male.

Morton Gaster Papadopoulos naeemah maddox chris brooks

“The Burnt Offerings” runs just under six minutes and right about at its midpoint there’s a break. By that point, Maddox has locked step with a building rhythmic intensity, and from there, Brooks‘ keys take a prominent position alongside a solo from Morton, with clean lines from Papadopoulos and Gaster supporting. The vocals return soon, and the effect is progressive and sweeping, almost psych-Beatles-style melodymaking, but the protest-song spirit continues in the repeated lines, “Let me tell you something/I think you oughtta know.” The group — and for the purposes here, it feels very much like a five-piece rather than the trio plus two guests — ride that movement out to a last crash and some final keys, but the only thing that seems to stop it is them. I’d easily take another 10-15 minutes of that jam with Maddox improv’ing lines overtop. That’d be just fine.

Alas, not this time. Maddox and Papadopoulos were both kind enough to offer a few words about the making of “The Burnt Offerings” — which was recorded by the esteemed J. Robbins (Clutch, Caustic Casanova, and so on) — below, and graciously gave permission for me to host the single as both a premiere and a free download. I hope you’ll take the time to enjoy it and join me in waiting for whatever the project might come up with next.

Dig:

Naeemah Maddox on “The Burnt Offerings”:

In the current social climate it is no longer sufficient to be non-racist. One must be anti-racist. This moment demands true accountability, and real change.

Transnational corporations stating their support for BLM should only be taken as sincere if they also advocate and lobby for social reforms like a living wage, universal healthcare, and defunding and demilitarising the police; using these new freed up resources to reinvest in vulnerable communities that need it most.

The time has long passed for petty sloganeering and cynical tokenism. Being against police brutality in 2020 shouldn’t even be a political issue. This is a failure of our society and goes beyond political persuasion. This is about human rights and creating a world our children would want to live in.

Yanni Papadopoulos on “The Burnt Offerings”:

This were my riffs that I brought to the table when jamming with Mark and JP. Those guys took the parts and rearranged them in a less linear order and Mark added his own fills in the spaces. Of course Naeemah wrote her own parts to the arrangement with lyrics, vox and flute. Chris Brooks filled in the keys. However, it all started with a bassline which I thought JP could really sink his teeth into. J. Robbins was great to work with, he knew just how to make sense of it all. What your hearing is virtually a live in the studio track. Mark’s solo was cut live with bass and drums with no edits. First take magic!

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Stream Rehearsal Jam from Gaster, Morton, Papadopoulos; Members of Clutch, Lamb of God & Stinking Lizaveta

Posted in audiObelisk on August 14th, 2019 by JJ Koczan

yanni mark morton jp gaster

About two months ago, I was lucky enough to stream a jam-room recording from Stinking Lizaveta called ‘The Odor of Corruption’ (posted here) after being hit up by the Philly-based doom jazz trio’s founding guitarist, Yanni Papadopoulos. Late last week, another note came in from Papadopoulos — did I want to hear a jam he played bass on with Jean-Paul Gaster of Clutch drumming and Mark Morton from Lamb of God on guitar?

Easy question.

The jam from what’s being called Gaster, Morton, Papadopoulos was hosted by the drummer in Frederick, Maryland — where else? — and has been dubbed “Blues to Infinity,” which about sums up the vibe. Morton, who released the solo album Anasthetic earlier this year, leads the way on guitar through the easy-flowing sub-four-minute snippet, starting off with a bluesy bounce over Gaster‘s groove, while Papadopoulos helps drive the subtle linear build even as he anchors the central progression beneath the guitar solo to come. If that level of blues hits infinite anywhere in the song — let me get my tape measure — it’s in that solo, but the the way jam kind of sways into its crescendo afterward is where it’s at one way or the other, and even after the guitar cuts out, the drums and bass seem ready to keep the vibe going in case there’s another pickup.

Doesn’t happen this time, but something tells me this might not be the only time we hear from Gaster, Morton, Papadopoulos. True enough that their schedules aren’t exactly empty as it is, but if this is the kind of work they’re doing off-the-cuff whenever their respective planets happen to align, there’s simply too much chemistry and too much potential here to leave it alone. And I mean, you know, if they wanted to send some jams off to Per Wiberg to put some keys on there too, I wouldn’t complain. Just a thought.

Whether or not that actually happens, here’s hoping for more from these three.

Enjoy the jam. Some quick comment from Morton follows:

Mark Morton on “Blues to Infinity”:

“There’s totally a cool anxious tightrope feel… like it could fall apart at any second but never does. My lead sounds frustrated and hurt… because I was. This is a real one for sure.”

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