Consider the Source is an American

instrumental An instrumental is a recording normally without any vocals, although it might include some inarticulate vocals, such as shouted backup vocals in a big band setting. Through semantic widening, a broader sense of the word song may refer to instru ...

trio from

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

. Formed in 2004, the group has released six studio albums, four live albums, and one compilation. They have toured extensively across the United States, Israel, Turkey, and Germany.

History

Consider the Source started forming in 2004 after

Gabriel Marin Claudiu Gabriel Marin (born 23 August 1972) is a retired Romanian rower. He competed at the 1992, 1996 and 2000 Olympics and won a silver medal in the eights in 1992. At the world championships he won a gold, a silver and a bronze medal in 19 ...

and Justin Ahiyon played together in a

jam session A jam session is a relatively informal musical event, process, or activity where musicians, typically instrumentalists, play improvised solos and vamp over tunes, drones, songs, and chord progressions. To "jam" is to improvise music without exte ...

and discovered their musical compatibility. John Ferrara and Ahiyon had been playing together since childhood. The three musicians met and their collaboration eventually turned into Consider the Source. The group started out almost exclusively improvisational and was not a full-time endeavor. They released a demo EP in 2005, and their debut album, ''Esperanto'', was included on jazz critic Howard Mandel's list of his favorite albums from 2007. Around this time, the trio decided to put all of their efforts into the band. In the next two years, they toured the United States seven times and began to play festivals such as the 2008 NYC Fretless Guitar Festival. In 2009, Consider the Source released their second full-length album, ''Are You Watching Closely'' and quickly followed with a third full-length album, ''That's What's Up'', in 2010. In 2012, Ahiyon left the group, and was briefly replaced by Louis Miller, before Jeff Mann took over on the drum kit. The band toured Germany and Israel. The new trio continued to produce original material which was constantly being introduced at shows and resulted in two live albums. Around this time, the band also began to play full acoustic sets at summer festivals. In February 2014, Consider the Source completed a

crowdfunding Crowdfunding is the practice of funding a project or venture by raising money from a large number of people, typically via the internet. Crowdfunding is a form of crowdsourcing and alternative finance. In 2015, over was raised worldwide by crow ...

campaign to fund the production of their largest studio release, titled ''World War Trio''. In October of the same year, part one was released as a stand-alone composition. In June 2015, parts two and three were released as a double disc.

Musical style and influences

Guitarist Gabriel Marin plays a double-neck guitar customized with

MIDI MIDI (; Musical Instrument Digital Interface) is a technical standard that describes a communications protocol, digital interface, and electrical connectors that connect a wide variety of electronic musical instruments, computers, and re ...

pickups and a fretless neck. He employs

sweep picking Sweep picking is a guitar playing technique. When sweep picking, the guitarist plays single notes on consecutive strings with a 'sweeping' motion of the pick, while using the fretting hand to produce a specific series of notes that are fast a ...

and various synthesized instruments on his guitar which he controls with three pedalboards. Bassist John Ferrara plays a

Fodera Fodera is an American manufacturer of electric bass guitars in Brooklyn, New York. Vinny Fodera and Joey Lauricella launched the company around 1983 after dissolving their working relationship with Ken Smith Basses. The company also manufactures a ...

five-string bass and utilizes slap bass,

slide Slide or Slides may refer to: Places * Slide, California, former name of Fortuna, California Arts, entertainment, and media Music Albums * ''Slide'' (Lisa Germano album), 1998 * ''Slide'' (George Clanton album), 2018 *''Slide'', by Patrick Glees ...

, and tapping. On drums, Jeff Mann plays a range of styles from heavy double-bass to Indian

tala Tala may refer to: Arts and entertainment * Tala (comics), a fictional character in DC comics *''Tala'', a 1938 volume of poetry by Gabriela Mistral *Tala (music), a rhythmic pattern in Indian classical music * "Tala" (song), by Sarah Geronimo ...

rhythms. Gabriel Marin and Justin Ahiyon traveled to India to study chaturangui and tabla respectively.

Indian Indian or Indians may refer to: Peoples South Asia * Indian people, people of Indian nationality, or people who have an Indian ancestor ** Non-resident Indian, a citizen of India who has temporarily emigrated to another country * South Asia ...

influence is evident in the

alap The Alap (; ) is the opening section of a typical North Indian classical performance. It is a form of melodic improvisation that introduces and develops a raga. In dhrupad singing the alap is unmetered, improvised (within the raga) and unaccompani ...

sections that begin many of Consider the Source's compositions. Marin has stated, "Our music combines influences from

Turkish Turkish may refer to: *a Turkic language spoken by the Turks * of or about Turkey ** Turkish language *** Turkish alphabet ** Turkish people, a Turkic ethnic group and nation *** Turkish citizen, a citizen of Turkey *** Turkish communities and mi ...

Bulgarian Bulgarian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to the country of Bulgaria * Bulgarians, a South Slavic ethnic group * Bulgarian language, a Slavic language * Bulgarian alphabet * A citizen of Bulgaria, see Demographics of Bulgaria * Bul ...

, North and South Indian styles with

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a major ...

and fusion, and then we filter it through our own heavy,

rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wales ...

and

psychedelic Psychedelics are a subclass of hallucinogenic drugs whose primary effect is to trigger non-ordinary states of consciousness (known as psychedelic experiences or "trips").Pollan, Michael (2018). ''How to Change Your Mind: What the New Science of ...

sounds and approaches." The way the band divides odd meters into rhythms suitable for dance is inspired by Balkan music. Some of the group's major musical influences are Pachora, Paradox Trio,

The Bad Plus ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the m ...

, Mahavishnu Orchestra, King Crimson, and

Tool A tool is an object that can extend an individual's ability to modify features of the surrounding environment or help them accomplish a particular task. Although many animals use simple tools, only human beings, whose use of stone tools dates ba ...

. In 2010, they opened for another major influence, Victor Wooten. The group also mentions they draw inspiration from

reading Reading is the process of taking in the sense or meaning of Letter (alphabet), letters, symbols, etc., especially by Visual perception, sight or Somatosensory system, touch. For educators and researchers, reading is a multifaceted process invo ...

Discography

;Studio albums * ''Consider the Source'' (2005) - demo EP * ''Esperanto'' (2007) * ''Are You Watching Closely'' (2009) * ''That's What's Up'' (2010) * ''World War Trio'' (2015) * ''You Are Literally A Metaphor'' (2019) * ''Hybrid Vol 1: Such as a Mule'' (2021) ;Live albums * ''Live at Pianos'' (2008) * ''F*** It! We'll Do It Live – Volume 1'' (2012) * ''F*** It! We'll Do It Live – Volume 2'' (2013) * ''F*** It! We'll Do It Live – Volume 3'' (2020) ;Compilations * ''Past Is Prologue'' (2016)

Band members

;Current members *Jeff Mann –

drums A drum kit (also called a drum set, trap set, or simply drums) is a collection of drums, cymbals, and other Percussion instrument, auxiliary percussion instruments set up to be played by one person. The player (drummer) typically holds a pair o ...

percussion A percussion instrument is a musical instrument that is sounded by being struck or scraped by a beater including attached or enclosed beaters or rattles struck, scraped or rubbed by hand or struck against another similar instrument. Exc ...

, mandolin, acoustic guitar (2012–present) *John Ferrara –

bass Bass or Basses may refer to: Fish * Bass (fish), various saltwater and freshwater species Music * Bass (sound), describing low-frequency sound or one of several instruments in the bass range: ** Bass (instrument), including: ** Acoustic bass gui ...

, banjo bass, ubass, synth bass, slaperoo (2004–present) *

– Guitar, chaturangui, tanbur, saz, danbau, kamancheh, KAOSSPAD (2004–present) ;Former members *Louis Miller – drums, percussion (2012) *Justin Ahiyon – drums, percussion (2004–2012)

References

External links

Archive

Bandcamp

Facebook

The Sourceror's Spellbook

Youtube
{{Authority control Jazz fusion ensembles American progressive metal musical groups Musical groups from New York City Jam bands American musical trios