Canton Strut

Don Glori serves up the third single in a run of fresh material landing on Mr Bongo. ‘Canton Strut’ sees the Melbourne/Naarm multi-instrumentalist deliver a kaleidoscopic, spiritual jazz journey inspired by Eastern philosophy and the flow of the universe. One year on from releasing his third album Paper Can’t Wrap Fire, Don picks up where he left off, relishing in the role of bandleader for this new series of songs. Channelling a cosmic energy that sweeps you up on a voyage of discovery, ‘Canton Strut’ showcases the breadth and distinctiveness of Don’s songwriting. From Hydra to Hackney, the track was recorded with fellow musicians Lyle Barton and Dougal Taylor, in part at an artist residency in Greece and then finished off back in East London. In his own words Don says, “‘Canton Strut’ started out as a meditation on The Dao. In Eastern philosophy, The Dao is the flow of the universe surrounding and guiding us. The groove moves in fives to reflect the five elements and the five notes in the Eastern pentatonic scale. The song pretty much named itself once I heard all the parts come together. I feel like the song is in two parts, the first half is swirling thick with layers - reverse guitars, synths, grand piano, vocals, mellotron, three basses dancing around each other. Sgt Peppers if they had gone to Sichuan instead. The second half opens up into a more cosmic funk groove with arpeggiators and guitar floating around a driving rhythm section. Musically I think it’s sitting somewhere in the mix with Lonnie Liston Smith, Weldon Irvine, Flying Lotus and also taking some cues from other artists fusing these eastern sounds - Gia Fu, Flip Nunez, Leong Lau.”