Jeff Mills and his guests publish “Evolution”, the second solar round of the Tomorrow Comes The Harvest project

A tireless researcher, constantly on the move, Jeff Mills seems to have vowed to always advance techno, of which he is one of the pioneers, and to offer it new playing territories. Since his beginnings in Detroit forty years ago as a as a DJ then as a producer within the Underground Resistance collective, the founder of Axis Records has never stopped reinventing himself and hybridizing his electronic music. First with classical formations, then with jazz, in particular. In recent years, he has been getting closer to Nigerian drummer Tony Allen, one of the creators of Afrobeat and companion of Fela Kuti.

A project initially developed with Tony Allen

When they joined forces, Jeff Mills and Tony Allen developed and implemented a theory based on improvisation, guided by the spiritual power of sound and rhythm, with a view to “to access a higher level of consciousness“. Together, and in the company of Jean-Phi Dary, talented keyboardist and composer well known in the jazz world, they toured internationally from 2018 under the name Tomorrow Comes The Harvest, until the premature death of Tony Allen in 2020, a superb live album testifying to this work.

This evolving project, intended from the start to continue after them with young musicians who would re-appropriate it in the future, Jeff Mills wanted to open it up further from now on. Thus, he invited the great Indian tabla player Prabhu Edouard to join him with Jean-Phi Dary in Tomorrow Comes The Harvest. The new album, Evolution, released this Friday, September 8, is the fruit of this unprecedented alliance. It was recorded live in Brussels in 2022.

Bewitching fusion

The genius of Jeff Mills on his machines (electronic percussion and synthesizers) combines wonderfully here with the keyboard and synthesizer notes of JeanPhi Dary and the expressive tabla rhythms of virtuoso Prabhu Edouard, who also gives voice here and there. The fabulous drumming of the late Tony Allen largely dominated the previous album, but the new trio has not lost rhythm. It also develops more voluptuous and sunny climates, and proves to be just as successful.

On the five tracks stretched from 10 to 20 minutes each (a sixth track appears as a digital bonus) of the album Evolution, we witness a bewitching fusion, organic, spontaneous, where everyone naturally finds their place. The loops to which it gives rise cause a sort of trance in the listener. Musicians are in the here and now when they play and compose live. “We always said feel the present“, insists Jean-Phi Dary in an enlightening interview in the liner notes. “You have to be in the present. Being connected with yourself and with the people around you, nature, and with everything.“

Transported by the groove

According to Jeff Mills, this project works “because we trust each other“. A mutual trust which seems to be the cardinal value of the trio. It allows you to let go, to express yourself completely in the music while dialoguing naturally with your partners.

“When I perform, I have a responsibility to be sincere with what I play, with what I express through my instruments and with how I connect with my brothers on stage“, explains JeanPhi Dary, still in the liner notes. This is how “the magic happens“, adds Prabhu Edouard. “We’re searching and suddenly the groove emerges. It’s really exhilarating because then we don’t have to try to groove, we’re just transported by the groove“. All that’s left for the public to do is let themselves be transported in turn.

“Evolution” by Tomorrow Comes The Harvest (Axis Records) was released Friday, September 8
The trio Tomorrow Comes The Harvest is currently on a world tour. It will stop on September 24 in Mons (Belgium, Royal Theater), September 29 in Paris (Le Trabendo), January 26, 2024 in Le Mans (Les Quinconces festival) and January 27, 2024 in Bordeaux (auditorium).