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Mughal Muesli's Heady Blend

Vicente Hansen performs in the KNKX studios.
Parker Miles Blohm
/
KNKX
Vicente Hansen performs in the KNKX studios.

Based in New York City and featuring two graduates of Seattle's legendary Roosevelt High School jazz program, the trio Mughal Muesli returned to the West Coast for a tour supporting their debut album Imperial Cereal. We're tracking down carpenters now because they nearly blew the roof off the place.

Live in our studios, Mughal Muesli performed three new compositions that ebbed and flowed with intense grooves, aggressive and muscular sax and bass, and exotic melodies that reflected their musical passions.

Dancing phrases of Northern India balance with a love of baroque European compositions and the freedom of avant-garde jazz. The three say that each member of the band brings in songs and ideas, but the sound of this band lies in the equal contributions of all.

We knew to expect great things from our Seattle natives, Xavier Del Castillo on sax and bassist Mat Muntz have been playing together for nearly a decade now. The studio audience was equally thrilled by the unique sounds produced by Mughal Muesli's drummer, Chilean native Vicente Hansen.

He explained that he'd "stacked" cymbals to create a dark, messy sound on one, while nearly deadening the other. His tiny high-hat cymbals came free with Vicente's childhood drum kit, and he's pounded them into a uniquely grown-up pair that helps to define the band's sound.

Such an intense mix of skills and influences pushes miles beyond mainstream jazz and sets Mughal Muesli apart in a Big Apple crowded with cutting-edge music.

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Abe grew up in Western Washington, a 3rd generation Seattle/Tacoma kid. It was as a student at Pacific Lutheran University that Abe landed his first job at KNKX, editing and producing audio for news stories. It was a Christmas Day shift no one else wanted that gave Abe his first on-air experience which led to overnights, then Saturday afternoons, and started hosting Evening Jazz in 1998.