For more than ten years, Jungle by Night has been heating up dancefloors with their cross-cutting music at over 600 festivals and stages in 34 countries. The nine-headed instrumental collective released six albums and used the language of their analog instruments to make people dance on rhythms and grooves inspired by krautrock, dance, jazz, and funk. With its unique sound, Jungle by Night plays for any crowd: from jazz to pop and from dance to hip hop.
It all started back in 2009 when a group of friends and family members from Amsterdam got together with a penchant for the same music. They formed a band in which not the vocals are the center but the interplay between their horns, percussion, and chords. Artists such as The Budos Band (with members of Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings), Mulatu Astatke, Fela Kuti, and El Michaels Affair were sources of inspiration. Soon after their first concert, the band got picked up by radio, national tv, and several festivals in the Netherlands. From here on, their combined taste and untameable hunger for music led the way.
The corona crisis totally wiped their schedule full of shows clean. Jungle by Night, therefore, released an album with Live Recordings of their previous tour to keep the spirits high. As part of the "new normal", they gave an exclusive live stream concert at Paradiso Amsterdam. Jungle by Night did not sit still and instead worked hard to find new ways for creating music from home. On 11 September, one of their newly created singles was released: Unlimited Love. In the spring of 2021, Jungle by Night performed several Fieldlab-concerts in preparation for their autumn tour to celebrate their upcoming album ‘Algorhythm’.
Jungle by Night melted their years of passion, friendship, and influences from krautrock, dance, jazz and techno together into a new analogue composition that will put us in a trance. 'Algorhythm' makes us revel in the human things around us and connect with each other like never before in times of rampant digital distractions.
Jungle by Night: "In a world in which technology and its algorithms have become highly influential in our daily lives, we’d almost rather stare at our screens than look out for each other. With 'Algorhythm', we pay a tribute to natural, spontaneous HUMAN rhythm as a counterpoint to the sophisticated intoxicating algorithms of the computer.’’
The 'Algorithm' determine what we see, what we listen to, whom we meet. The worldwide web seems to be this free world in which everyone has access to everything and everyone. But in reality, it steers us in a certain direction. A direction that often feels natural, reassuring, safe even. It confirms our thoughts and doesn’t confront us with different ways of thinking, with new perspectives. While getting swallowed up in our bubbles, we slowly drift apart.
With this new analogue album, Jungle By Night bursts our bubble and reminds us to surrender to being human. With styles such as Dance, Funk, Jazz and KrautRock, mixed into a completely unique and inclusive genre of danceable music: Analog Dance Music, the band invites us to live in the moment and welcome serendipity. The oddball ensemble exists within its own cosmos and serves us a danceable and thundering live act, connecting with crowds like no other, with beaming fun and energy along the way.
Jungle By Night: "During the corona crisis, we as a band had a lot of time to reflect on the role and function of (live) music. One of the magical powers of live music is how it can create an atmosphere of freedom, expression, and togetherness. Will we still be able to surrender to this after over a year of staring at our screens or have we drifted away? And is there any silver lining? This album explores the dividing lines between man and machine. The pandemic allowed us to take a new artistic step by implementing more theatrical elements to create a fully cohesive album.’’
Listen 'Algorithm' here
