{"product_id":"ancient-infinity-orchestra-its-always-about-liberation","title":"Ancient Infinity Orchestra - It's Always About Liberation","description":"\u003cp\u003eAncient Infinity Orchestra return with their third album, It’s Always About Liberation, a new record that deepens the vision of their acclaimed recent work while moving into darker, more searching emotional territory.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eConceived as a partner to It’s Always About Love, this new body of work shares its predecessor’s generosity and spiritual openness, but carries a different charge.\u003cbr\u003eWhere the previous album focused on healing and warmth, It’s Always About Liberation is largely animated by struggle, perseverance and the desire for transformation while still offering a path to betterment.\u003cbr\u003eIt is music made in full awareness of a fractured world, yet unwilling to surrender to it.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe 16-member ensemble is led by double bassist and composer Ozzy, with a distinctive line-up that explains their sound better than any artificial genre divisions: two double basses, harp, saxophones, clarinets, violin, viola, cello, oboe, flutes, mandolin, congas, piano, drum kit, with bells, shakers and other percussion instruments scattered on the floor of live sets and recording sessions, ready for members to use whenever the spirit takes them.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThis orchestration, and the overlap between membership and friendship, gives Ancient Infinity Orchestra a sound that is at once expansive and intimate, earthy, and cosmic, constantly shifting yet grounded in shared intention.\u003cbr\u003eThe attention to intention and the inviting sonic world connects the music to artists ranging from Alabaster dePlume to Gondwana label boss Matthew Halsall.\u003cbr\u003eGradually, the Orchestra became a grounding force in the emerging jazz scene in Leeds, bringing together individuals from different musical backgrounds co-founding the Café Oto-inspired Limpet Club or co-hosting the monthly Sonic Plunge (‘a platform for adventurous experimentation’) and co-founding the Leeds Improvisers Orchestra.\u003cbr\u003eAdditionally, the ensemble acted as a bridge between musicians in Brighton and Leeds, after Ozzy spent a stint back on the south coast between 2020 and 2022.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eTheir debut, River of Light, was a vibrant celebration of togetherness recorded in three days and released on Gondwana in 2023.\u003cbr\u003eA Maida Vale session for Jamie Cullum’s BBC Radio 2 show brought them to a broader audience, as did bookings at North Sea Jazz Festival and Gretchen, Berlin.\u003cbr\u003eSince then, Ancient Infinity Orchestra has become a by-word for music that could be framed as ‘spiritual jazz’.\u003cbr\u003eWhilst Ozzy avoids the phrase when describing his music, he’s crystal clear that his heroes are associated with those words – citing Art Ensemble of Chicago, Pharoah Saunders, Coltrane (Alice and John), and Don Cherry as major influences.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eAcross trance-like meditations, rising grooves, moments of grief and collective uplift, It’s Always About Liberation speaks to the battle within the mind as much as the inequalities of the wider world.\u003cbr\u003eIt acknowledges the darkness but lets connection and creativity have the last word Ancient Infinity Orchestra is a gathering of voices, traditions, and energies converging into something timeless. Their music is a journey inward and outward, always reaching toward the universal.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Gondwana Records","offers":[{"title":"CD","offer_id":58236772155724,"sku":"BLX-14800","price":12.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"Vinyl LP","offer_id":58236772221260,"sku":"BLX-14801","price":23.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0841\/2738\/3884\/files\/afo1.png?v=1785236380","url":"https:\/\/badlands.co.uk\/products\/ancient-infinity-orchestra-its-always-about-liberation","provider":"Badlands","version":"1.0","type":"link"}