Miguel Atwood-Ferguson Shares Solo Single 'Airavata'

Brainfeeder delightedly announces the signing of Miguel Atwood-Ferguson and shares a new track – “Airavata” – by the highly respected multi-instrumentalist, composer, arranger, music director, producer and educator based in Los Angeles.

Airavata is a song of gratitude dedicated to all of the people, places, and things that have carried us at times in our lives.

Composed, produced, and arranged by Miguel, who plays electric guitar (reversed) and acoustic violin/viola, with Gabe Noel and Peter Jacobson joining on acoustic bass and cello respectively, “Airavata” (eye-raw-VAH-tah) is named after the white elephant who carries the deity Indra, also called ‘abhra-Matanga’, meaning “elephant of the clouds”.

An ancient Vedic deity in Hinduism, Indra is the king of Svarga (Heaven) and the Devas (gods) associated with the sky, lightning, weather, thunder, storms, rains, river flows and war.

“The spiritual and emotional intention of the music is to empower, encourage, and awaken those that hear it,” declares Miguel. “The goal has been to create the most authentic music that I can with the determination that its quality is good enough to be riveting and relevant for many, many years to come.”

Deeply embedded in the LA music scene, Miguel Atwood-Ferguson is quite simply one of the preeminent musicians, orchestrators, arrangers and composers of our time. He has been a pillar of the Brainfeeder family since the label’s inception in 2008, contributing to countless recordings for artists on the label including Thundercat, Hiatus Kaiyote, Kamasi Washington, Salami Rose Joe Louis, Brandon Coleman, and Teebs to name but a few, so it is fitting that he should himself sign to his friend (and regular collaborator) Flying Lotus’s label to release his own magnum opus which has been 12 years in the making.

It’s hard to overstate Miguel Atwood-Ferguson’s contribution to music during the last 20 years. Even if you haven’t heard of Miguel, you’ve almost certainly heard him. Born and raised in Los Angeles California, he has recorded on over 600 albums, films and TV shows, and performed thousands of live concerts around the world working with the likes of Ray Charles, Stevie Wonder, Quincy Jones, Smokey Robinson, Wayne Shorter, Billy Higgins, Ray Brown, Dr. Dre, Flying Lotus, Austin Peralta, Anderson .Paak, Mary J Blige, Bonobo, and many others.

A true visionary from the days of his earliest output in the 00s with experimental hip-hop/jazz/electronic outfits like Ammoncontact, The Life Force Trio, and creative music ensemble Build An Ark, collaborating with producer and long term musical partner Carlos Niño, Fabian Ammon Alston, vocalist Dwight Trible, Phil Ranelin (founder of Tribe Records), Nate Morgan (Pan Afrikan People's Arkestra) and Adam Rudolph (co-founder of the Pharaohs).

He is best known to hip-hop fans for his stunning tribute to the music of James “J Dilla” Yancey – Mochilla Presents Timeless: Suite for Ma Dukes – interpreting the music of the legendary producer for a 60-piece orchestra featuring special guests Bilal, Dwele, Posdnuos (of De La Soul), Talib Kweli, Common, and Karriem Riggins in 2009. Almost a decade later in 2018, Questlove tapped Miguel to compose orchestral arrangements for the worldwide tour 4U: A Symphonic Celebration of Prince.

Photo Credit: Hannah Arista

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