Northern Californian pianist & producer Telemakus releases brilliant spacey jazz-funk debut
Being based in the Bay Area in Northern California, I’ve been hearing some buzzing locally over the last several years about a rising young teenage pianist and producer known as Telemakus. Over the last couple of years, the now 19-year-old self-taught musician’s acclaim has quickly grown well beyond the South Bay, which is where he grew up, receiving strong notable praise from the likes of Flying Lotus, Mark de Clive-Lowe, Tommaso Cappellato, Música Macondo label, Music Is My Sanctuary, and others. He has now released his much-anticipated full-length album on the German-based label Radio Juicy, titled The New Heritage.
This brilliant fourteen-track recording features a superb blend of cosmic jazz-funk, spacey-keys, atmospheric hypnotic tones, and head-nodding percussion grooves and beats. Inspired by a mixture of both jazz and hip-hop influences like Herbie Hancock, Chick Corea, Robert Glasper, Madlib, J-Dilla, and DJ Harrison, Telemakus has successfully been able to absorb the music from those pioneering artists while pushing his own unique sound forward.
The album came together during the year-long COVID-19 lockdown, and therefore it was created virtually with musicians from 11 countries, including some notable guests like Javier Santiago on trumpet and keys, drummers Thomas Pridgen, Tamuz, Alissa Johnson, David James, Marcelo Soler, tenor saxophonist Ted Taforo, alto saxophonist Kosie, bassist Chino Corvalán, guitarist Joey Garcia, and numerous others, while Telemakus holds it down on piano, Fender Rhodes, Wurlitzer, synths, clavinet, drum production and programming.
Overall, Telemakus has produced an incredible debut album that takes that essential jazz-funk sound of the 70s and 80s well beyond into the future. It’s probably safe to say that this is just the beginning for this extremely gifted, and forward-thinking artist.
Telemakus — ‘The New Heritage’
(Radio Juicy)
- Awaken – Intro
- You Ready (feat. Marcelo Soler, Tane)
- Jacochi (Phrases) (feat. Chino Corvalán)
- Mars Blues (feat. Chino Corvalán, Ted Taforo, Corydrums)
- All of This (feat. Ted Taforo, CARRTOONS, Tamuz, David James, Phøn, Gavin Grant)
- The New Heritage (feat. Kosie, Chino Corvalán, David James)
- City Dreams (feat. Phøn, Javier Santiago, Tamuz)
- Stoplight (feat. bastrd)
- Spirit C (Interlude)
- Awaken – Sunrise (feat. Alissa Johnson, Chino Corvalán)
- Moondrive
- You Ready Reprise (feat. CARRTOONS, David James, Ted Taforo)
- Third Sun (feat. Thomas Pridgen, Joey Garcia)
- After Hours – Outro
