Earlier this year, Live For Live Music had the opportunity to debut a new video from New Orleans-based supergroup Space & Harmony highlighting the quartet’s studio performance of “Artsy Farsi”. The group, which combines members of The Revivalists (bassist George Gekas and saxophonist Rob Ingraham) with Naughty Professor guitarist Bill Daniel and drummer Sam Shahin, lived up to their name by channeling a wonderful mix of harmonies within their given space to create their own blend of captivating, fusion-jazz-inspired instrumentals.
Today, Live For Live Music is excited to premiere another new, in-studio performance from the band—their new video for “Shimada”.
After grabbing the listener’s attention with some guitar hooks from Bill Daniel, “Shimada” quickly picks up steam as Ingraham’s smooth-sounding saxophone gradually joins into the fun, adding to the foundation built upon Sam Shahin’s uptempo rhythm. By the time the performance reaches its one-minute mark, the entire quartet is firing from all angles as George Gekas also delivers his own sonic contributions to the collaborative effort. The listener is kept on their toes the entire time as the dynamics of the active instrumental swap back and forth from calm to intense on a beat’s notice.
“Originally titled ‘Shimada No Horai’ the song draws upon vague eastern influences befitting its title—an American’s clumsy attempt at condensing the name of a rural Japanese landmark—but the song isn’t really about the longest wooden pedestrian bridge in the world,” Ingraham tells Live For Live Music about the song. “It’s about open space and spiritual liberation, an attempt to capture the feeling of sprinting into the wind with your eyes closed or rolling the windows down as you pull onto the onramp of a coastal highway. It’s about learning to breathe.”
Watch the studio performance of “Shimada” via the new video below.
Space & Harmony – “Shimada”
[Video: Space & Harmony]
While the band was unable to perform their annual show during Jazz Fest for their hometown fans, they do plan on sharing more new music and videos in the coming months as live music in North America continues its ongoing hiatus for the third month heading into May.