Premiere: Max Clouth and Entelecheia’s Atmospheric Fusion Jam ‘Deszendent-Sagittarius’

Frankfurt artist Max Clouth is known for his fusion experiments with Indian music with the band Ragawerk, but his new collaborative album project Entelecheia takes a much wider scope, as heard in the journeying lead single “Deszendent-Sagittarius.”

Directed by Timo Trauschold, the video for “Deszendent-Sagittarius” plays with colors, swatches and more to add a captivating dimension to the track. Clouth plays guitar, while drums are added by artists Martin Standke and Bodek Janke, with bassist Massl Maier rounding out the rhythm section. The key lushness on the track and the rest of the album is provided by vibraphonist Marja Burchard, with synthesizer by Kabuki and multi-instrumentalist Tony Clark, who plays the shakuhachi, a Japanese bamboo flute on “Deszendent-Sagittarius.”

The album name is derived from a philosophical term which Clouth says, “refers to a spiritual entity manifesting in the physical realm.” In the works since October 2022, Clouth said he and the band went in to a “very remote” recording studio in Black Forest region in southern Germany to record for three days.
“[We had] brought very minimal compositional material with us – just a few ideas, chords and some little melodies,” he says.

The guitarist got down to editing and rearranging the recorded material and brought in more musicians for overdubs and says they all managed to create “these little compositional ‘cells.’” Clouth adds, “[That] is the concept of entelecheia, a term from Ancient Greek philosophy: An idea, containing its completed, fleshed out state in itself, before actually being manifested. That really sums up what creative work means, doesn’t it?” Percussionists such as Khadim Seck, Bernhard Schimpelsberger and Ziya Tabassian also appear on “Deszendent-Sagittarius.”

Tony Clark gets a specific mention from Clouth for being a multi-instrumentalist and vocalist who also adds sitar parts on the album and has been a collaborator since 2012. “For Entelecheia, I didn´t initially know what instrument Tony would be playing, but I knew I wanted him on board. The same goes for all the artists I had the pleasure of working with on this album,” Clouth says about writing for his collaborators.

There’s undoubtedly a meditative quality to the seven-track album, which will release on April 26th. The title track remains a favorite, because Clouth says not only is it meditative but also “agitated.” There’s a journey between the album’s opening track “Aszendent” and the closer “Deszendent” and Clouth points out that there’s an intentional “bit of silence” after “Aszendent” and before “Deszendent” and all the tracks in between fade into each other. He adds, “So ‘Aszendent’ and ‘Deszendent’ are kind of separate from the rest, like short statements… I think listening to the five songs in the middle is more like thumbing through an art book containing symbolist paintings – you see something, it evokes an emotion or a memory, and it is over in a glimpse … at least, that is how I feel.”

With Entelecheia out later this month, Clouth is part of a six-piece band that will launch the album. He acknowledges the difficulty in securing tours for a bigger band like his, but is confident that they will play more shows this year.

A regular visitor to India, Clouth says he would love to bring Entelecheia as well as Ragawerk if he comes back to the country. He says about his India plans this year, “I am looking forward to play with my friend Ishaan Ghosh [tabla artist] and violinist Nandini Shankar in Germany this June. So with Ragawerk, we are working on a short tour of India, probably taking place this winter.”

There will also be a new Ragwerk album that Clouth is currently composing, slated to be recorded in December. “Ragawerk is performing at [club festival] jazzahead! Clubnight this month and more concerts later this year. And we are organizing a music festival named Fluide Klänge in August.”