Stephan Micus - Thunder (2023)

Stephan Micus is a unique musician and composer, he collects and studies instruments from all around the world and creates his own musical journeys with them.

This is his 25th solo album for ECM and its sound is dominated by the four-metre long Tibetan dung chen trumpet, an instrument he has recently learned and is using for the first time. It was the thunderous sound of this instrument that led to the album's name and its nine tracks celebrating deities around the world.

"I dedicate this music to the big family of thundergods around the world, humbly hoping that - when they hear it - their destructive powers will be somehow pacified," he says. It features instruments - all played by Stephan Micus - from Tibet, India, Burma, Borneo, Siberia, Japan, South America, Gambia, Namibia, Sweden and Bavaria.

The album will be released to coincide with Stephan's 70th birthday on January 19th.

Stephan Micus: frame drums, dung chen, Burmese temple bells, Himalayan horse bells, ki un ki, bass zither, bowed dinding, kyeezee, shakuhachi, sarangi, nyckelharpa, kaukas, sapeh, voice, nokhan.