Akropolis Reed Quintet, Pascal Le Boeuf and Christian Euman playfully embrace the three Rs of recycling in their new collaborative video and single All Consuming — showcasing today on Tinnitist.
Taken from their upcoming album Are We Dreaming The Same Dream? and arriving just in time for Earth Day, the intricately mesmerizing track and inventive video tackle the topic of American consumerism and its effects on the environment, housing, superfund sites, ethnic groups, and the recording industry. Along with pianist Le Boeuf and drummer Euman, the sonically daring quintet crafted mock instruments out of salvaged garbage and single-use plastics to shoot this clip — and then drove all the items back to Michigan to make sure they were properly recycled so they would not end up in landfills.
All Consuming asks the question: What happens when you are not responsible about your consumerism or usage? This track, with its examination of the chaos brought about by consumerism in America, formed the initial thread that would culminate in Are We Dreaming the Same Dream?, a broader work about American identity.
It’s familiar terrain for Grammy-nominated composer, jazz pianist, and electronic artist Le Boeuf, who has frequently addressed environmental issues in previous works, including Into the Anthropocene (2018) and Ritual Being (2023). Are We Dreaming the Same Dream? draws together classical and jazz idioms in a unique meditation on author Ralph Ellison’s words from The Invisible Man: “America is woven of many strands; I would recognize them and let it so remain.” Le Boeuf’s work also reflects the influences of Geri Allen, Dave Brubeck, Charles Mingus and Leonard Bernstein (all of whom explored themes of American unity or disunity). Le Boeuf probes the idea that diverse strands of experience, more than one unified “dream,” are what define America — and ignite artistic creation.
Akropolis first met Le Boeuf in 2018. Forming a friendship, they began to dream of a commission and collaboration. As clarinetist Kari Landry adds: “This would be the first time a reed quintet and piano joined forces, and Pascal thought the combination would be further enhanced with drummer Christian Euman added to the mix.” The group workshopped ideas and techniques with Le Boeuf in 2019, resulting in Part One of Are We Dreaming The Same Dream? which they then recorded in 2020. Two years later, the goal of recording a complete album was realized. This is the sixth studio album to feature Akropolis and they are the first reed quintet to twice rank on the Billboard charts (2021 and 2022).
Watch the video for All Consuming above, hear more from Akropolis Reed Quintet below, pre-order Are We Dreaming The Same Dream? HERE, follow Christian Euman on Instagram, and find Pascal La Boeuf on his website, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
