Phi-Psonics is a meditative, immersive jazz group from Los Angeles, led by bassist Seth Ford-Young and featuring Sylvain Carton on woodwinds, Mitchell Yoshida on electric piano, and Josh Collazo on drums. Their deeply soulful music draws on jazz and classical influences together with Ford-Young’s own musical experiences, relationships, and his introduction to spirituality, yoga and philosophy at a young age to create something uniquely its own.

Originally from Washington DC area, Ford-Young moved to California in the early 90s and fell in love with the sounds of the upright bass and the music of Charles Mingus, John and Alice Coltrane, and Duke Ellington along with Bach, Chopin, Pärt, and Satie. He immersed himself in music, and keen to learn, combined intense personal study with collaborations, tours, and recordings with artists such as Tom Waits, Beats Antique, and John Vanderslice. In 2010 he moved from the San Francisco Bay Area to the Los Angeles hills and continued his explorations, starting to compose and develop the music that would find such beautiful expression in his Phi-Psonics project.

Octava is their second album and like their debut The Cradle (GOND046) it’s emotional, introspective, and unusual approach to meditative jazz offers us a beautiful space for uplifting contemplation. Seth explains:

“This album is about change and evolution to a higher version of ourselves. Understanding this journey through the idea of ascending a musical scale and arriving at a new, higher octave is natural especially for a musician. We move, struggle, and work through the various steps or tones and arrive at the octave a new version of ourselves, still the same person, but vibrating at a higher frequency.”

Octava is released on Gondwana Records on 30 June 2023.