Album Notes

"Highly Recommended." - Signal to Noise

"One of our all-time favorites." - Antibalas Afrobeat Orchestra

"A much-needed blast of joy! Highly habit-forming..." - The Village Voice

"Great band. See them. Period." - Steven Bernstein, Sex Mob


Founded by trumpeter and composer Jordan McLean, Fire Of Space features a raucous four-horn front line familiar with fans of the Antibalas Afrobeat Orchestra - McLean on trumpet, trombonist Aaron Johnson and reedsmen Stuart Bogie and Michael Herbst - with the astonishing rhythm section of keyboardist Shoko Nagai, bassist Tom Abbs and percussionist Geoff Mann, mainstays of the New York City improvised music scene.

Collectively, members of Fire of Space have toured and/or recorded with a wide range of artists, including the Antibalas Afrobeat Orchestra, William Parker's Little Huey Creative Orchestra, Steven Bernstein's Sex Mob, Cooper Moore, Ori Kaplan, Borah Bergman, Daniel Carter, Roots Combination, the live drum and bass outfit Droid, Dub Is A Weapon, Fu-Arkist-Ra, and Medeski, Martin & Wood. Inspired by sources ranging from Sun Ra to marching bands to traditional musics from Eastern Europe and India, Fire of Space is no stranger to adventure. A band of high-energy and sometimes unruly improvisers, Fire of Space can turn on a dime and take off in any number of directions.

Having cut their teeth in New York City venues such as The Pink Pony, ABC No Rio, Galapagos, The Brecht Forum, Tonic, and The Knitting Factory -- as well as galleries, pirate radio station Free 103, and the apartments of numerous friends -- Fire Of Space is taking it national with a definitive and unshakable vibration.

Fire Of Space is a member of JumpArts, a coalition founded and directed by bassist Tom Abbs. Since its inception, JumpArts has produced more than two hundred and fifty concerts and workshops throughout New York City, and was named "Best Art Collective" by The New York Press in 2002.