1. KUKOTÉ – The basic idea came from the bass guitar theme in John Coltrane’s composition Love Supreme. It took on its final shape during the rehearsals, where it lost its Coltranesque roots and created an entirely new mood.

2. THE DEPTHS OF THE SOUL – After ten years had passed I got the music out and put it in front of the band. Everyone seemed to be filling the music with the lonely times they’d had over the last ten years.

3. TANGA – The African feel of the title refers to the stylized tribal dances of early jazz. I imagine it on a stage on Broadway, in a Mad Max kind of environment.

4. DOGMATICS – A combination of the mood of military marches with the other extreme, the lament found in folksong. There is no middle ground: we are at the mercy of dogma.

5. OLD YORUBA – This theme has its origins in the polyphony, polyrhythm and practice of musical density of tribal music. It’s called “old” because of the slow tempo early on, and “Yoruba” because of the African feel in the melodies. Meanwhile, it got younger.

6-7. WATER DIVINING – Plainsong turns of phrase in the jungle interwoven with the music of the gambri of northern Africa. The first is free, the second is fixed.

Béla Ágoston - music navigator