Tristan De Liège X Jambal Have ‘Uncertainties’
The prolific LA-based electronic producer Tristan De Liège has teamed up with emerging jazz band Jambal for their new single, ‘Uncertainties’, released on the 4th of August via Tristan De Liège X Jambal Music. The single, reminiscent of artists like Arms and Sleepers, St Germain, Azymuth, and Ezra Collective, is the first release from their forthcoming album Enterprises of Great Pith and Moment. It received early airplay from the UK National radio station Jazz FM with John Osbourne.
With 9 studio albums to his name, Tristan De Liège has accumulated nearly 3 million streams on Spotify alone. Further, he has earned the support of numerous publications, including Stereofox, Faeton Music, The Sights and Sounds, River Beats Dance, The Fox Magazine, and Trip Hop Nation, and appeared on the Youtube channel DLoaw several times as well as Mindful Music. Not to mention having many of his songs air on BBC Radio, KEXP, KCRW, Worldwide FM, NTS, Dublab, and Soho Radio.
Jambal is a jazz collective on the up and up. Having been featured in webzines London Jazz News and RTL Today and receiving spins on Radio ARA and RTL’s station RTL Play, the quartet has previously taken to the stage to open for notable band Portico Quartet at Luxembourg’s cultural centre Neimënster. Additionally, they have showcased their talent at a number of music festivals, from Last Summer Dance to Messtival and Echterlive Festival.
Tristan de Liège is a Belgian electronic/downtempo artist based in LA, California. He writes and produces under several monikers, including Thoma (duo with Benjamin Hill) and Tethys (post-classical experiments with a changing cast of string musicians). He has previously contributed ambient music to the indie game Faeria and released three albums (two as Thoma) on Emancipator’s Loci Records. A fourth Thoma album, Ikiru, which showcases playful, cinematic strings and woodwind arrangements, was released via Audio Network in 2021. Thoma‘s fifth album, Pictures of Infinity, was released via Asta Hiroki‘s imprint Folded Music in early 2023. He also has two albums as Tethys, I and II, as well as a string quartet tribute to II. Continuing his neoclassical experiments under the moniker, he created a collaborative album with violinist Gregory Allison entitled A Light for Dark Moments, signed on Gregory’s Holy Volcano label.
Rising fast, Jambal is a jazz Quartet from Luxembourg but based in Amsterdam and Dresden. The young outfit is comprised of Ben Bley (Trumpet, Flugelhorn), Arthur Clees (Vibes, Keys), Maxime Igisch (Bass, Double Bass), and Luca Garofalo (Drums). Together, these four players work their magic to compose works that exude a sophisticated air of rare freshness, influenced by UK and ethno Jazz.
A warping blaze of Trip hop beats, Jazzy grooves, and warm bass, ‘Uncertainties’ is a colourful collision of two different styles. Between Tristan De Liège’s electronica and Jambal’s Jazz, the record is a playfully messy jam with an improvised feel. Despite its looseness, it maintains cohesion, in a dance of temperamental instrumental changes.
Tristan De Liège and Jambal shared: “Uncertainties was one of the last tunes of the album we finished. We initially struggled to find a direction that everyone agreed on, but eventually, through collective improvisation, the song became divided into two sections: the minimalistic instrumentation for the first half and the anthemic character in the second. The song represents the feeling of uncertainty of life when you’re making big decisions or starting new projects, and you feel a building sense of excitement but you’re not sure what the outcome will be.”
Image credit: Cédric Weber (left) & Christian Sorensen Hansen (right)