Album Notes

"Electronic music in recent years has become a single cell organism in a perpetual state of mitosis; one pretty layer
distinction upon the last, breeding itself tiny, amoebic cliques.

...and then there is Black Akres. Much like its namesake might imply, the music of Black Akres evokes the expansive and fertile soil of Daniel Mastrofski's imagination which has been fed and nurtured with a patient, yet tenacious hand. Grown under the moons of a thousand midnights spent wandering through liminal pastures, you, lucky listener, shall reap the opulent bounty that could only root in Black Akres."
-Alexander B. Kern

Black Akres is the brainchild of Daniel Mastrofski. Born in the most unlikely of places, Des Moines, Iowa, this classically-trained musician took on what was never intended to be: a full-scale album of uniquely woven genres that rarely meet--if only in acres of black!

Mastrofski spent years refining his style while working with musicians from West Africa, East Europe, South America and USA. While pondering what type of music was his own, the only answer was, Black Akres. It is a melting pot that reflects Daniel's world in a sound.

While not conventional, Mastrofski arrived at a synthesis of orchestration. Wurlitzer keyboards, celesta, harp, electric bass/guitar, glockenspiel, vocals and drum beats designed with real life sounds, modulated to emulate the hyper-modern drum set that is featured in Carnival Lover--the lush sounds of The Barrandov Orchestra accompany Mastrofski's group.

Mastrofski's voice is featured along with two other signers:
Suchi Rudra Vasquez and Kirsti Bronwyn Gholson. Together they sing of the strange nature of life as a human: nothing seems quite certain; however, this album reflects the dreams, hopes and fears of a young adult, far from home.
If music could be a journal entry, this would be a volume of experience to remember.

Primary recording was done in Prague, Czech Republic.

Daniel resides in New York today.