* En anglais uniquement
The Quiet Temple's music is a spider's web of left-field jazz, kosmische, psych, post-punk, Krautrock, and dub. Created in 2017 by multi-instrumentalist
Duke Garwood and
Soulsavers'
Rich Machin, their fluctuating cast includes saxophonist
Ray Dickaty (
Stereolab,
Spiritualized), keyboardist Tim Lewis (aka
Thighpaulsandra; ex-
Spiritualized and
Julian Cope), drummer
Paul May, bassist Peter Marsh (Woven Entity), and guitarist Tony "Doggen" Foster. All the players had crossed paths as collaborators.
The band's name comes directly from a tune composed by pianist
Mal Waldron, recorded by
Donald Byrd and
Booker Little for the 1960 album The Soul of Jazz Percussion (reissued as
The Third World). Given the familiarity of the musicians with one another,
Machin and
Garwood assembled them in
Peter Gabriel's Real World studio in the fall of 2017 with no set plan other than to record live-in-process. The pair did have a few ideas, however, including using three vintage recordings --
Larry Young's Lawrence of Newark,
Marcus Belgrave's Gemini, and
Noah Howard's
The Black Ark -- for aesthetic reference. These recordings were played for and discussed with everyone beforehand. The final product sounds like it was filtered through the gauzy lenses of other influences, as well, including the
Velvet Underground,
King Tubby, and
Neu!, among others. They emerged with
The Quiet Temple for Wichita Recordings in the summer of 2018, preceded by the single "The Last Opium Den." Just before its release in July,
Machin and
Garwood commissioned a remix of the track by
Moon Duo. ~ Thom Jurek