Anemoia Deliver Another Stunning Set of Music: Dunedin Brewery 03.15.25
You can always count on Miami trio Anemoia to deliver a mind-blowing set every time they play. WHAT do they play? Their shows feature jazz and rock and experimental sounds and fusion and prog and absolutely anything else they decide to toss into the mix: indescribably delicious!
There was a great double bill March 15 at Dunedin Brewery with Anemoia and Mutant Fusion Collective. Unfortunately, we arrived late and missed most of the MFO set; I look forward to hearing them again.
Anemoia is an instrumental group, and each of the members has a deep resume. Bass player Andres Ferret is involved with Nu Deco Ensemble and other groups there. Drummer Armando Lopez is a mainstay in the prog fusion band Electric Kif. Aaron Lebos on guitar and a wild assortment of pedals and loops also fronts superb band Abstract Citizen. They are all completely committed to the amazing Miami sound; there is definitely something special in the water there.
I was glad that my brother, Phil, was in town from Maryland and able to catch this group. I was also glad that Sean Maloney, aka Legacy, was there, since he is a great looper himself and helped me understand that, in addition to all of the guitar pyrotechnics Lebos displays on the regular, he very effectively uses loops to create additional layers of sound. Always glad to see brilliant house engineer Chris Fama at the controls and to see the dynamic duo: Hunter Nicole Bryant and Mike Bryant.
That was the way “’Spuma” began, layer upon layer of sound with superb rhythm support. There were times during the set when Ferret and Lopez would provide simple support (think Khruangbin) and others where they were balls to the wall (in that context the best of all the Anemoia shows I have been lucky enough to catch).
Speaking of Khruangbin, later in the set Lebos said, “Here’s a song you probably know” before delivering that band’s superb “Maria También.” Legacy assured me there was reverse looping on “The Ville” — waaay over my head to understand, although I certainly enjoyed it. Ferret had a solo slot on “I’m Lost,” but to my mind his overall playing was better than the solo.
The set featured five of the ten tracks the trio selected for their vinyl release Selections 20’–23’, drawn from their three CD releases, including “Song for Lenny,” “The Leak,” “Innit,” and “Ghost Town.” They played a fine cover of the Aphex Twin song “Flim” and a brand new original: “Kings.” Lopez also had some fine solo space, and the playing and compositions were outstanding start to finish. There might be something Lebos cannot do with the guitar, but I cannot imagine what that would be.
It would be tempting to suggest that they are “just jamming” (not that that is a bad thing), but careful attention reveals that these are tightly composed songs performed with precision.
Great men, great musicians playing great music. Be sure to catch Anemoia when you can.
[ANEMOIA: ’Spuma, The Ville, I’m Lost, Ffunny Ffriends, Maria También (Khruangbin), Song for Lenny, Flim (Aphex Twin), Kings (new original), Grief Bacon, The Leak, Innit, Ghost Town, Gnoss]
Anemoia
Facebook
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.