Mystic & the New Dawn
Mystic
& The New Dawn is a group of musicians formed to play original instrumental
compositions by Doug Thomas. South African keyboard legend Mike McCarthy has
arranged & produced this 13 track cd & for his tireless work, ability
& help has been credited with co-writing these songs.
NZ born guitar player virtuoso Harvey Mann, another ex Underdog now living in
Australia also helped write the two tracks he appears on: "Crossing The
Bar" & "Perfectly Free"
The music can be described as ambient, mystical music, although not New Age as
the songs have a Latin/Pacifica feel to them as well as featuring the unusual
chord progressions that Doug Thomas is known for.
His listening & playing roots go back to the 50's great jazz composers such
as Miles Davis, Art Pepper, Art Blakey, Charley Parker, John Coltrane etc to the
Brazilian Bossa Nova kings such as Antonio Carlos Jobin (his favourite composer
in that field), Luiz Bonfa & the like, to Jimi Hendrix & the LA legends
'Love' with Arthur Lee.
Arthur Lee is the composer he admires & respects the most of all due to his
diverse style of writing, ranging from Latin rock to pre-punk & heavy rock
to soft melodic rock as in the classic, highly praised album "Forever
Changes." There has been a strong revival of Arthur Lee's work with his
songs featuring in movies & being covered by well known artists as Lenny
Kravitz, Lou Reed, Alice Cooper, Urge Overkill, The Damned, UFO, Mazzy Star; the
list goes on & on.
All these influences can be heard in the music of Mystic & The New Dawn.