Following hot on the heels of the stunning title track (out today on digital platforms and stores), we present Charles Petersohn's 'Children Of Zu Zu EP' - a six track EP full of warm deep house music, spacey jazz-not-jazz, African and Brazilian rhythms, plus a portion of psychedelic funk poetry.
'Children Of Zu Zu‘ is Charles Petersohn‘s restart after his previous label release from 18 years ago, besides some experiments on Bandcamp and SoundCloud. On this EP, different sounds merge into each other, creating an organic flow, inspired by Dr. John and most of all the space music and afrofuturist philosophy of Sun Ra and his Arkestra. Soundscapes and atmos in the background of each song give the music a deeper feel.
It took its time to get the music ready.
There was the desire of having Web Web pianist Roberto Di Gioia in the music, which took months. But it was worth waiting. Roberto planted some magic moments into it. On the other hand, Charles is hyper critic with his own sound. If jumping back into the arena, it should be something special. When he is okay with every inch of his sonic work, then it’s done! ‚Children Of Zu Zu‘ became a collage of thick, warm and smooth house music, spacy ambient jazz and two dancefloor tools with a deep Afro and Brasil feel. Here we go with six tracks full of love, full of dreams and full of space.
About the cover art:
"In 2023 photographer Daniel Schmitt has been visiting a township in eMalahleni (place of coal) in South Africa" says Charles. "He accompanied and documented a private NGO charity project, a school in the township. This school is intended to help offer the children educational prospects to get empowered themselves for a new life outside the township in the future. After work, Daniel toured the township in consultation with the residents to get impressions of life in this place. A couple of children has been always with him, who had fun being with Daniel and his photo case. When he took this picture of the boy Ayanda Skasona, Daniel created a magic moment. What a gift. When I saw this image myself, I was touched and fascinated. He left it to me for 'Children Of Zu Zu'. The picture to me contains some aspects that I would like to express with my music, too: my personal connection and solidarity to people in Africa, Brasil and innercity ghettos, elsewhere in the world. In townships, favelas and similar places people seem to be forgotten by the rest of the world. Despite the adverse living conditions, many people in so called slums are masters of improvisation to make a dignified life out of nothing. This photo tells many stories of life, beauty and fantasy. Perhaps the EP will help to raise awareness once again that we all belong to this planet. Everybody everywhere should get the chance and conditions to live a good life. Is that naive? No. It is high time!"
The EP is out now on 12" vinyl and digital formats. Please feel free to share the official link.
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