
Focusing your music on rhythmic patterns is not such a new concept, but it’s definitely a very tricky one to get right and be able to engage listeners that go beyond their potential interest in those patterns. As with any other music, it should be focused on creating music piece(s) that goes beyond rhythm.
Of course, such music is very often created by drummers/percussionists, and Dan Kurfirst is a drummer/composer who focuses on rhythmic patterns on Arkinetics, his latest release.
Yet, instead of just compiling a set of different rhythmic patterns, Kurfirst sets out to find a connection and a role that those patterns have in different musical genres, as well as cultures as part of meditative processes.
The reasoning behind this approach becomes clearer when you realize that this New York musician is a daily meditation practitioner and can definitely recognize the place rhythmic patterns have in meditation as such.
At the same time, Kurfirst also finds the right place for these patterns in his music too, fusing everything from rock and hip-hop to jazz and music from different cultures. In this manner, he created an album that goes beyond a study of rhythms and comes up with music that is both listenable and… meditative.
