The most recent hypothesis is based on the idea of agriculture being the basis of strong and steady culture and paving the way to the development of technologies and arts. It is said that intense agriculture was only able to arise in Euroasia (with North Africa as part of it) as it is the only continent with an east west axis, meaning if a plant is domesticated in one part, it can easily be transplanted (through generations) over the whole continent because of the similar climate zones. If this happens a number of times on similar latitudes, each place ends up having a great number of crops that are the basis of a healthy and steady economy.
The suite reflects this theory and all of the historical events that lead to the rise of contemporary culture.
Aesthetically it is deliberately borrowing elements from contemporary, world, jazz, hip hop, funk and classical genres. The idea is to synesthetically represent each storyline through a movement, thus jazz and folk elements present a visual scenery. The contemporary elements are crucial as it is the contemporary music of the day that becomes classical the next and it is today’s changing music that makes the possibility of great communication.
The colour of the story is brought by the various instruments and arrangements. The instruments heard are drums, violin, clarinet, trombone, saxophone, piano, double bass and vocals. Vocals are in this case kept as both a lead instrument and one in the ensemble, singing only syllables and not words.
The seven movements represent the main seven steps in creating the urban society we have today. From Scratch to Structure Suite is part of a set of Suites about humanity.
Personell
Maja Rivic – vocals
Rachael Birkin – violin/viola
Eikel Venegas Hernandez – trumpets
John Macnaughton – clarinet / alto saxophone
Rob Milne – tenor saxophone
Nathaniel Cross – trombone
Steve Parker – piano
Rohit Nijhawan – guitar
Ed Babar – double bass
Chris Duffy – drums
Mak Murtic – composition, MD
Recorded, mixed and mastered at Wax Recording Studios, London, UK in 2012.