The Story
Creature Of Habit is a travelogue of influences from other cultures, all filtered through the prism of Brian Ales's uniquely visual sensibility.
Creature Of Habit is composer/guitarist Brian Ales's second release as a solo artist. Creature Of Habit was composed, produced, and engineered by Ales, who plays guitar and does the samples as well. Brian's primary source of musical inspiration for many years has been music from other cultures, but rather than imitating a specific musical style in any one piece, he juxtaposes elements from various genres to create what could be called ethno-ambient music. Creature Of Habit is a suite of pieces for
different ensembles.
Like that album, Creature Of Habit makes use of different ensembles in each piece, with his guitar being the one constant from track to track. The wide palette of sounds Ales used on the recording include shakukachi, violin, dumbek, bandoneon, Bulgarian flutes and bagpipes, hammer dulcimer, pizzicato strings, talking drum, bass clarinet, tuba, Japanese Taiko drums & vibraphone.
The centrepiece of Creature Of Habit is Aho Dze, a collection of songs from the Kpegisu ceremony of southern Ghana, arranged for full big band, with authentic Agbekor drum ensemble. The CD booklet includes Ghanaian master drummer Godwin Agbeli's translations into English of the texts which are part of the actual festival; although the original texts are not sung as part of Aho Dze, they were key in inspiring Ales to create this suite for Creature Of Habit. Hidden between the tracks on the CD are short, uncredited guitar pieces which Ales has compared to haikus, the short, enigmatic Japanese poems.
Included on Creature Of Habit are both New York & Los Angeles musicians from the jazz and world music arenas, including violinist Mark Feldman, percussionists David Locke, Satoshi Takeshi & Hearn Gadbois, Matt Darriau on gaida, among others. Creature Of Habit is a travelogue of influences from other cultures, all filtered through the prism of Brian Ales's uniquely visual and headphone-friendly sensibility.
Track Listing
- Your Small Kindness (A Lullaby)
- An Older Road Than This (Recalling The Third Man)
- Happy Town
- Cinema Saga #1 (Exotic Exploits Of Epic Proportion)
- Waltz Fatale
- Cinema Saga #2 (Our Hero Can Trust No One)
- Aho Dze ('And They Said People Get Lost')
Additional Details
Label: Intuition
Genre: Jazz
Run Time: 53:18 mins
Region: 0
Release Date: 07/11/25
UPC: 750447316225
Description
Creature Of Habit is a travelogue of influences from other cultures, all filtered through the prism of Brian Ales's uniquely visual sensibility.
Creature Of Habit is composer/guitarist Brian Ales's second release as a solo artist. Creature Of Habit was composed, produced, and engineered by Ales, who plays guitar and does the samples as well. Brian's primary source of musical inspiration for many years has been music from other cultures, but rather than imitating a specific musical style in any one piece, he juxtaposes elements from various genres to create what could be called ethno-ambient music. Creature Of Habit is a suite of pieces for
different ensembles.
Like that album, Creature Of Habit makes use of different ensembles in each piece, with his guitar being the one constant from track to track. The wide palette of sounds Ales used on the recording include shakukachi, violin, dumbek, bandoneon, Bulgarian flutes and bagpipes, hammer dulcimer, pizzicato strings, talking drum, bass clarinet, tuba, Japanese Taiko drums & vibraphone.
The centrepiece of Creature Of Habit is Aho Dze, a collection of songs from the Kpegisu ceremony of southern Ghana, arranged for full big band, with authentic Agbekor drum ensemble. The CD booklet includes Ghanaian master drummer Godwin Agbeli's translations into English of the texts which are part of the actual festival; although the original texts are not sung as part of Aho Dze, they were key in inspiring Ales to create this suite for Creature Of Habit. Hidden between the tracks on the CD are short, uncredited guitar pieces which Ales has compared to haikus, the short, enigmatic Japanese poems.
Included on Creature Of Habit are both New York & Los Angeles musicians from the jazz and world music arenas, including violinist Mark Feldman, percussionists David Locke, Satoshi Takeshi & Hearn Gadbois, Matt Darriau on gaida, among others. Creature Of Habit is a travelogue of influences from other cultures, all filtered through the prism of Brian Ales's uniquely visual and headphone-friendly sensibility.
Track Listing
- Your Small Kindness (A Lullaby)
- An Older Road Than This (Recalling The Third Man)
- Happy Town
- Cinema Saga #1 (Exotic Exploits Of Epic Proportion)
- Waltz Fatale
- Cinema Saga #2 (Our Hero Can Trust No One)
- Aho Dze ('And They Said People Get Lost')
Additional Details
Label: Intuition
Genre: Jazz
Run Time: 53:18 mins
Region: 0
Release Date: 07/11/25
UPC: 750447316225
