Rooted in a fusion of cultural inspirations and a commitment to pushing sonic boundaries, Sons Of Jumira emerged with a focus on genuine improvisation and expressive experimentation. Comprised of double bassist Julian Tjon Sack Kie, drummer Mill Voyance, and harpist Ranie Ribeiro, they form a formidable trio, each contributing their distinctive voice to the collective sound that defines Sons Of Jumira's live performances. We had a brief chat about their process, current projects, and future plans.
J: We are Sons Of Jumira and we are actually sons of ourselves. So that's just in the deepest way, in the most direct way, who we are. And that's what we like to express on stage as well. This child-likeness, not childish but childlike. And to be children of ourselves and to express this playfulness. I think that's a very, very important role in our music and in our performance as well.
R: Jumira, what that means is basically, "Julian, Mill, Ranie" hence the Sons Of Jumira. In our journey with our instruments.
How would you describe the sound of Sons of Jumira?
M: I think it's a fusion of a lot of different influences. You know, black music. The sound is really based on expression. So, let's say it's cosmic expressions.
Is there a message you’d like to convey in your music?
M: The message is actually staying close to yourself, your inner child. Keep it alive. Express yourself. Stay playful. Feel free.
How do you feel in this current chapter of your life, in your music, in your art?
R: I would say pretty good actually. If I look back and see how we got together as a band, and seeing where we all came from, or come from, I think it's a great combination, with Julian on bass, me on harp, and Mill on drums, and also the different cultures that we come from, and come together as one. I think, it's something unique.
J: For me, it's a beautiful journey. And the nice thing is that we all have
our own path that we follow ourselves, our individual selves. And that's great, but to come together to share ideas, to share visions as well, to share compositions, improvisations, to really share everything, like children, it's really nice, and it gives me such joy. And when we are rehearsing, I can close my eyes and I can really, really play. And, yeah, for me, it's a really, really nice moment in my life to go on this journey.
M: Yeah, the same goes for me. It really reminds me of playing at home with my family. So I consider these two brothers as a chosen family, actually. So that's how it feels when I play with them. I feel really free to
express myself and just add ideas. And it really flows. And it's not that we
really think it all through. It's like it just comes in and flows. And then afterwards we just get together and make some themes and stuff like that. So it really feels like how I approach my life. Just tuning in and we receive the arrangement. We just see where it fits.
Tijmen de Nooy Photography
How does your music come together?
J: Everything that we do is really shared. So like this process basically starts with just us jamming. Then from that jam we arrive to a certain point where we feel like yes, this is more tune-like instead of just
free improvisation. Then we drive further on that tune and develop that while we are playing actually. And sometimes these jams can last for
like 10 to maybe like 15 minutes. And afterwards we reflect on that and see like yeah, this is nice and this what you did was really nice and the other one did was great. So let's just combine that and then we develop some stuff and make it actually more like a tune, a more structured tune.
Not really structured but still bit structured so we can have like this sense of freedom in that structure and improvisation. So all the tunes are certainly improvisation based but they give the freedom within that very limited kind of like structure. That gives the freedom I guess.
R: I remember the last time we jammed we had a recording. It was about 12 minutes long. And in the last minute of the recording, there's a part that's so beautiful. When I reflect on it... Remember this part? This was so beautiful. You know? And we just dive into that and see what happens. That's how those compositions come about.
What’s in store for Sons of Jumira in the near future?
R: We're playing at the end of June at Lago Lago Festival. We're also doing some more performances, one of which has not been announced yet, but we're also performing at the Super Sonic Jazz Festival this year in Amsterdam. And next to that we're working hard on
recording some material like professionally recorded and hopefully get it out somewhere soon.
Is there anything else you’d like to share?
J: I think if I can speak for all of us, our gratitude to you guys for this opportunity.
M: Yeah, for sure.
J: And that we can share our passion basically. Our heartfelt gratitude for this opportunity. Thank you.
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