Sphere Of Influence by Gino Foti

Each individual composes the music of his life. It he injures another, he brings disharmony. When his sphere is disturbed, he is disturbed himself, and there is a discord in the melody of his life. If he can quicken the feeling of another to joy or to gratitude, by that much he adds to his own life; he becomes himself by that much more alive. Whether conscious of it or not, his thought is affected for the better by the joy or gratitude of another, and his power and vitality increase thereby, and the music of his life grows more in harmony." ~ Hazrat Inayat Khan, Sphere Of Influence

Composition Notes:

1. Coniunctio Oppositorum: Part I - Infinite Realms Of Light And Dark

When opposing elements encounter each other they can repel or neutralize themselves, or according to Jungian thought, it can lead to the Coniunctio Oppositorum - the Union Of Opposites - a form of higher unity and transcendence of polarities. The concept that opposite aspects are really parts of one dynamic process is universal to all cultures, past and present, and I thought that this theme was an excellent explanation of what I was trying to achieve musically with this release: merge several ethnic traditions and disparate musical elements into a unified whole, as well as creating a dynamic interplay between the dual aspects of rhythm and melody of the bass guitar.

This composition blends traditional Asian instruments and themes with jazz fusion-styled bass guitar over major (light) and minor (dark) modalities. It features yangchin (aka yang qin - a Chinese dulcimer) and dizu (Chinese transverse flute) solos, as well as a brief bass guitar lead, all backed by several percussion instruments, including: bangu (frame drum), muyui (tuned woodblocks), paiban (castanets), paigu (Chinese drum set), gongs, bells, and cymbals.

2. Part II - Amor Y Poder (Love and Power)

As the title suggests, this arrangement alternates between gentle and powerful sections in a variety of Mediterranean and Middle-Eastern rhythms, including: Ayyub (or Ayyuub), Baladi (or Beledi, Baledy), Cheftitelli (or Ciftetelli), Maqsum (or Maksum, Maqsoum), Malfuf (or Malfouf), and Saidi (or Sayyidii) - all performed on two doumbeks. Classical guitars, fretted and fretless bass guitars round out the instrumentation playing both lead and supportive roles while trying to maintain song flow over all the dynamic sections.

3. Part III - Heart And Mind United

This arrangement is centered around question-and-answer & tradeoff solo sections between me on piano and my Electrum bandmate, guitarist Dave Kulju, over various percussion instruments and rhythms from throughout the globe. It also includes an ensemble section sharing fragmented melody lines that recalls our past efforts in the instrumental progressive rock genre.

4. Dancing On The Edge Of A Dream

Bass guitar is joined by two classical guitars and several Latin percussion instruments playing different Bossa feels.

5. Degrees Of Force

This composition features individual piano and fretless bass guitar solos, as well as a call-and-response section between the two, in the Spanish Phrygian (or Phrygian Dominant) scale, over a bed of rhythm guitars and Latin jazz-styled congas, bongos, and hi-hat cymbals. This arrangement showcases keyboardist Chris Rossi.

6. Marirangwe

The title is the Shona (Zimbabwe and Mozambique) vernacular for "dusk", literally "when the leopard hunts". The main instrument for this piece is the mbira (thumb piano), which is closely associated with the Shona people as it pervades all aspects of their culture. Using their traditional repertoire as a point of departure, I arranged two mbira parts - a leading (kushaura) and an intertwining (kutsinhira), and added jazz-rock fusion ideas on top. Additional instrumentation includes: djoun (aka djun djun - African drum), clay pots, marimba, and of course - fretted and fretless bass guitars, with the latter performing a solo in 6/8 time signature.

7. Within The Circles

Traditional rhythms and instruments from Thailand are blended with bass guitars in this composition. Some of the Thai instruments include: khlui (aka klui - a wooden flute), pii (bamboo whistle), wode (pan pipes), khong (bronze gong), ching, chhap (both cymbals), and klong yao (hand drum).

8. Saudade

Saudade is a Portuguese word that is not easy to translate. In his book 'In Portugal', AFG Bell wrote: "The famous saudade of the Portuguese is a vague and constant desire for something that does not and probably cannot exist, for something other than the present, a turning towards the past or towards the future; not an active discontent or poignant sadness but an indolent dreaming wistfulness."

Acoustic piano is joined by fretless bass, acoustic guitar, and Latin jazz-styled percussion over a repeating chromatic progression, meant to represent a nostalgic tension between the longiness for what is gone and the expectation of return.

9. Seafaring Soul

Piano and fretless bass guitar are the prominent instruments playing over a rhythm section of two electric guitars, frame drum, and a doumbek playing Ayyub (a driving Mediterranean rhythm) patterns. Following the central themes of the quote above and this release, dynamic balance between the main instruments was my main focus for this piece.

10. One Day As A Lion

Fretted and fretless bass guitar are joined by African percussion, voices, flutes, mallet instruments (marimba, tongue drum, slit drum), and of course - a pride of lions - in an arrangement that features 6/8 and 7/8 odd time signatures.

My legal counsel has advised me to declare the following: No lions were harmed during the production of this composition.

11. Paths Of The Warrior

a.) Awareness b.) Transformation c.) Intent

Assembled from jam sessions and unused material by Electrum, this miniature trilogy features piano, bass guitar, and fretless bass with each instrument taking the lead role in one of the sections that receive their titles from the three Masteries of the Toltec (pre-Aztec Mexican) tradition. Drum kit, congas, woodblocks, and classical guitars round out the instrumentation for this piece.

12. Ouroboros

The title refers to an ancient Mediterranean symbol, shown as a snake (or serpent) that is devouring its own tail, representing several concepts, such as: completion, totality, the endless round of existence, and any other cyclic patterns and principles used to describe humanity and/or nature. I thought the symbolism worked well given the extensive use of loops used, the sinuous movement of the arrangement, and its tie-in to the album's main concept.

A "tongue-in-cheek" composition featuring fretted and fretless bass guitars, electric guitars, and Mediterranean/Middle-Eastern percussion - mostly doumbeks (or doumbec, darbuka) playing jazz-funk patterns and also performing a panned call-and-response solo.

13. Tender Shadows

An acoustic piano and classical guitar composition, mainly in 6/8 and 3/4 time signatures, in the Baroque "chiaroscuro" style -- blending shades of light and darkness in the hopes of producing a unified whole.

14. Prescient Visions

A reverie of Native American voices, featuring the Dine (Navajo) peoples, percussion (drums, shakers, rattles, etc.), ocarinas, and flutes are fused with fretted and fretless bass guitar, two drum kits, electric violin, and numerous synth themes and beds.

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