Jeff Mills and Rafael Leafar Announce Electronic Jazz Album, The Override Switch

by | Aug 30, 2021 | Electronic Jazz, Heritage Artists | 0 comments

Rafael Leafar Jeff Mills

Techno innovator Jeff Mills‘ latest project, The Override Switch, is a collaboration with a fellow Detroit musician, jazz multi-instrumentalist Rafael Leafar. The electronic jazz album will drop on Jeff Mills’ Axis Records on October 15th in vinyl and digital format.

The dynamic pair offered a first taste of their expansive sound in April: a reimagining of Mills’ “Infinite Voyage.” The track will also appear on The Override Switch along with seven unreleased ones (plus two bonus tracks on the digital album). The album is a nod to John Coltrane, J Dilla, Kraftwerk and other artists “who inspire experimentation with what can be evoked through music.”

“The Override Switch reflects on the precise moment people decide in their minds that the only way to improve a situation is to act—to change the scenario and deal with the consequences as they develop to work for a better outcome,” Mills is quoted in a press release.

“Unrestrained and unshackled by the semiotics placed by conventional dance music, it looks to a frontier beyond what is conditioned by genre,” the release continues. “By infusing the mercurial elements of jazz, it gives electronic instruments the avenue that it always had the potential to travel down; as an unrestrictive genre, exploring the boundless possibilities in which it is capable.”

Mills’ prior electronic jazz releases have included collaborations with legendary Afrobeat artist Tony Allen and French keyboardist Jean-Phi Dary, along with his Spiral Deluxe project with Yumiko Ohno, Kenji ‘Jino’ Hino and Gerald Mitchell.

Back in May 2020, Mills announced Axis would release classical, jazz and film soundtracks in addition to techno.

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