The Ancient Cosmonauts are a collective formed by the Munich trumpet player Michael Treetop Voss (Feed LA, Poets Of Rhythm). The band explores the spaces opening in a harmonically undefined cosmos of singular voices structured by the beat of drums. With lyrics based on the fundamental experience of human life, the Ancient Cosmonauts connect with their listeners using the language of soul, the energy of funk and the freedom of jazz.
“Free as I Wanna Be” was initially written and performed as a solo piece for trumpet. It is centered around ideas of self-determination and empowerment, which are prerequisites for both individual and collective freedom. The arrangement begins with an up-tempo conga and hi-hat pulse as the listener is immersed in the emerging elegiac horn melody. Driving collective rhythmic parts and the duet of lead singer Cris Soaz and Treetop add contrast and context to fully reflect the joys of freedom.
The flip side “Intergalactical Travel” is a musical meditation on the idea of the Voyager probes (first launched back in 1975) as they continue on their trajectories into infinite space and their frail and fading connections to their terrestrial birthplace.
