Earth to EZRA

Jacob Jolliff, Max Allard, Jesse Jones, Craig Butterfield, Xak Bjerken, and Mark Stewart

Ever wondered where the worlds of progressive bluegrass music and microtonal synthesis might intersect? The EZRA ensemble is game to answer the question on their adventurous second album, Earth to EZRA. Convening in an intimate studio in the Berkshires of western Massachusetts, the core quartet — composer and multi-instrumentalist Jesse Jones (guitars and vocals), Jacob Jolliff (mandolin), Max Allard (banjo) and Craig Butterfield (double bass) — teamed up with musical polymath Mark Stewart and pianist and keyboardist Xak Bjerken to craft a complex recording that is by turns whimsical, uplifting, haunting and otherworldly. And you can dance to it.

More succinctly, Elizabeth Ogonek describes the project as “a wild, surreal, and totally joyful album — a ‘cycle’ to be listened to from beginning to end.” The sonic beast at the center of Earth to EZRA is a microtonal organ designed by David Rothenberg and built by synthesizer pioneer Robert Moog in the mid 1960s. The 478-key instrument divides the octave into 31 equal parts, but was never actually functional until 2023, when electronic music scholar and instrument builder Travis Johns began the meticulous process of making the organ playable.

Released September 6, 2024

Produced by Xak Bjerken and Elizabeth Ogonek
Recorded by Dave Dennison at Studio 9
in North Adams, MA on October 21-22, 2023
Mixed by Dave Sinko
Edited and mastered by Jeff Francis

Released with Cantaloupe Music

Jesse Jones: steel string, fretless, microtonal and classical guitars, vocals
Mark Stewart: xaphoon, chaladoo, daxophone, guitar, mandocello, percussion, vocals
Jacob Jolliff: mandolin and 13-tet guitar
Max Allard: 5-string banjo
Craig Butterfield: double bass
Xak Bjerken: piano, toy piano and 31-tet Rothenberg Moog organ

This recording was made possible by Cornell University’s New Frontier Grant.