Watch a new video look from Phi-Psonics recorded at Healing Force of the Universe in Pasadena.

On his 1970 Impulse! Records classic, Albert Ayler is joined by his wife Mary Maria Parks, who cries out, “Music Is The Healing Force Of The Universe, Music of love, Music is the spirit, Music is life, Life is Music” over the avant-garde jazz saxophonist’s emotive tenor. Deeply spiritual and uplifting, that message of love and life echoes on decades later at Healing Force of the Universe, a record store and community space in Pasadena where LA-based jazz group Phi-Psonics recorded their latest album Expanding to One.

Exploring themes of hope and togetherness, Expanding to One was recorded in front of a live audience and features eleven extra personnel above and beyond their last Octava quartet, including Sheila Govindarajan (vocals), Spencer Zahn (bass), Dave Harrington (guitar), Jay Bellerose (drums), Dylan Day (guitar), among others. Bandleader Seth Ford-Young says of Expanding to One, “We live in increasingly dark times and while I intend our music to be a balm to those who connect with it, I also want the context of our musical conversations to include the outer as much as our inner worlds. The music we make doesn’t exist in a vacuum and the backdrop of injustice and tragedy in our world has to be part of our music.”

Today, we’re premiering the video for “New Pyramid,” a grounding, meditative number featuring alto flute, saxophone, percussion, and twinkling Wurlitzer 140b electric piano textures. Soothing melodies meet free improvisation across a flowing collective sound that fans of Phi-Psonics will know and love.

Phi-Psonics’ Expanding to One will be released May 23rd via Gondwana Records.

Pre-order here: https://insheepsclothinghifi.com/product/phi-psonics-expanding-to-one-2lp/

Phi-Psonics will be back at Healing Force of the Universe for an April residency. More information here: https://healingforcerecords.com/events/phi-psonics-residency-night-1

In anticipation of the album, we asked Phi-Psonics’ Seth Ford-Young a few questions about the Los Angeles music community, spiritual jazz, expanding to one, recent favorites, and more!

Hey Seth! How are you? This new album was recorded live at Healing Force of the Universe in Pasadena and feels very much like a communal effort. For those outside of the city, can you shine a light on the music community that you’re connected to here in Los Angeles?

Hi Phil! I’m doing well, though it’s been a tough time in LA recently with the fires. Releasing this album feels like a ray of light for me and I’m excited to finally share it with everyone. While there are challenges to living in this city right now, Los Angeles’ music community is thriving. In the 15 years I’ve been living here I can’t think of a more exciting time. Some very creative music has been coming out the last several years and it’s great to see the audiences have been supporting bold moves by LA artists. It has been very encouraging for me, and my vision for Phi-Psonics, to see packed houses for improvised music where
you can hear a pin drop.

I also appreciate that genre barriers have become more porous, with artists drawing from more varied inspirations and players having more chances to stretch out and play in different modes. That’s great for me as someone who loves playing in different situations, from supporting a songwriter to free improv. I feel those ways of playing are overlapping a lot more now.

I love the title “Expanding to One.” There’s obviously a spiritual undercurrent to all of Phi-Psonics’ music. How does that spiritual connection inform the music on this specific record?

Thanks, I hope the title ’Expanding to One’ will inspire some thought and reflection. There isn’t one meaning; I like things to be open to personal interpretation. But, while making this album I was thinking about how the first two albums were more introspective, with themes of personal growth, while this album is more about community. I like the idea of taking that personal growth and bringing it to the world and doing whatever good we can with it. That idea inspired me to bring more people into the process, including more players, a live audience, and the other artists, including photographers and DJs who are now part of our community.

This album expands on the group’s sonic palette with more free form improvisation. Can you talk about the new approach and the specific elements, musicians, etc.?

Yes, I thought that adding more and freer improv would bring out the communal feeling I wanted to invite. It was also important for the music we were creating through improv to really connect with listeners, which inspired the choice to record in front of a live audience. With live recording there is an energy between the players and the audience that inspires improvisations that communicate directly with the listener. It encourages the players to consider the ears their sounds will fill in a more personal way. Keeping with the idea of expanding I did invite some different personalities and instruments into the mix, including Jay Bellerose, Dylan Day, Rocco DeLuca, Dave Harrington, Spencer Zahn, Sheila Govindarajan, Mathias Künzli, and Minta Spencer. So at times you will hear harp, percussion, guitars, pedal steel guitar, voice, and a second upright bass along with our usual instrumentation. Sylvain Carton, Randal Fisher, Mitchell Yoshida, Zach Tenorio, Gary Fukushima, Josh Collazo, and I provide saxes, flutes, electric piano, bass, and drums, which formed the palette on the first two records that we have built on with the additional players.

You mentioned that you intend for Phi-Psonics’ “musical conversations to include the outer as much as our inner worlds.” How do you set this tone and intention as the bandleader with a growing circle of collaborators?

Good question, it’s pretty subtle. Though I think inviting new voices and sounds into the band is a pretty good way of creating space for those kinds of musical conversations. The act of leading this project is often a matter leaning into small decisions. Creating space for an expanded view and interaction is no different. The choice of personalities and instruments for a particular piece, subtle conducting on stage, personal interactions, and musical prompts all add up to a kind of soft leadership that makes the band’s sound across all our albums.

Lastly, can you share five records that you’ve been listening to recently or were influential during the recording of this album?

I don’t tend to listen to much music when I’m making a record, as I need to save room in my head for the new music. But right now I’m between albums and here are some newer releases I’ve been checking out. I’m about to make another album next month though, so I’m enjoying listening until I dive back in!