Jaz Coleman - Magna Invocatio - A Gnostic Mass for Choir and Orchestra Inspired by the Sublime Music of Killing Joke (2019)

"‘Magna Invocatio – A Gnostic Mass For Choir And Orchestra Inspired By The Sublime Music Of Killing Joke’ is the first release in Jaz Coleman’s MASTERSCORE Series. Over the years, Coleman – now celebrating 40 years as Killing Joke’s iconic front-man – has been driven by twin musical loves: experimental rock and classical music. Clearly, Killing Joke has played a pivotal role in both alternative music and culture, but what Coleman feels is sometimes passed over is the “panoramic beauty” underpinning many of their songs, an element that fitting orchestration might underline. With ‘Magna Invocatio…’, he spotlights these elements in grand style… Recorded with Russia’s oldest orchestra, the St Petersburg Philharmonic, this stirring body of work taps into the more melodic, uplifting aspects of the KJ musical canon, using Coleman’s journey with this hugely influential UK outfit as the vehicle for a Gnostic mass (a ritualised celebration of the mysteries of existence). What we have here is a true passion project – “13 digestible epics”, five with full chorus, ordered to be experienced in a single sitting, and conceived to appeal to those not generally engaged with orchestral music. States Coleman, musician, composer, producer, author, lecturer, traveller, philosopher, actor & Chevalier des Arts et des Lettres, “The end goal was always to bring magic into the listener’s life in some meaningful way”. ‘Magna Invocatio’, ‘The Great Invocation’, clearly does that."