Influences:Traditional World music, Jazz, Electric Blues, Old Timey Bluegrass, Music Concrete, Baroque, Contemporary Classical and Ambient ala Eno & Roach.
Ma Ja Le formed April 1994 and performed their first show at a local Milwaukee coffeehouse. The initial concept and impetus was based on improvisational musical explorations. Structure evolved from doing, being and respectful deep listening. Originality was eschewed for authenticity and integrity. Initially presented as an open format several other musicians were involved in the early stages of the project including; Lannette Newson (drums), Steve Mischovy (ethnic percussion), Jim Lueke (Sax) and others.
In the second phase (1995-1996) of it's life Ma Ja Le became a trio with Chris's longtime friend John Stratehootman (aka Vir Unis) they were fellow souls creating similar music. An instant connection and palpable energy arose between the three musicians and Vir Unis became an important collaborator with Ma Ja Le. Vir Unis also went on do several albums with Steve Roach and another Ma Ja Le collaborator James Johnson.
Ma Ja Le's first CD "Dreams in the orchards of Saturn" was culled from their first four shows and received notice from local radio host and new age shop owner Stu Daniels. It was felt at the time, that the raw energy and unique voice of the moment far transcended any musical oddities in the performances. It was through Stu that in the next couple years following"Dreams" Ma Ja Le were introduced to some of the most vital musicians of contemporary electronic music. Including Steve Roach, Robert Rich, Dirk Serries (aka Vidna Obmana) and Transmission (who's founder was Kenneth Newby).
The mentoring provided by Steve, Robert & Dirk helped the group to find roots in the tribal ambient genre. Later on working with Steve Roach as producer on their 1997 release Imaginarium; this further created a tremendous impact on the band. The Imaginarium release also saw the departure of collaborator Vir Unis and the creation of a new partnership with James Johnson. With James Johnson (an exquisite minimalist who's piano phrasings were reminiscent of Harold Budd), Ma Ja Le created the December 2001 release of Seed through the Hypnos records label. Most of the tracks gained national airplay on the syndicated radio programs "Echoes" & "Hearts of Space" and was heralded by some as the newest sounding ambient work in many years"
Many solo & collaborative releases were done by members Paul Vnuk Jr and Christopher Short with various musicians from the electronic music community. Now in it's fourth stage Ma Ja Le nears completion of a new CD due out sometime in 2007.
Ma Ja Le is also a sound design team. Working for the Sony Media Software line of products since it was Sonic Foundry. Christopher Short & Paul Vnuk Jr. as Ma Ja Le' have developed several ACID loop libraries for Sony's ACID software including Saturn & Elsewhere which received many excellent reviews including a recent review in Recording Magazine. Loops within the ACID software are an interactive musical experience. Most recently Ma Ja Le were involved in creating Themes for Sony's Cinescore program (a self generating music program) and several loop libraries. Ma Ja Le' have also developed loops for M-Audio and Apple.
Along with Paul Vnuk Jr. Tribal Ambient music duo Ma Ja Le have released several albums including April 1995 Dreams In The Orchards Of Saturn, April 1998 Imaginaruim (produced by Steve Roach) and December 2001 the highly acclaimed Seed. Paul & Christopher have also released several solo projects and worked with many artists including Vir Unis, James Johnson, Oophoi, Rodney Cunningham and David James.
For more detailed info on the band, CDs and reviews see;
www.majale.com
www.hypnos.com
http://spaceformusic.com/Spacecraft/festival2001.html
Milwaukee's best kept ambient treasure: MAJALE' - playing Racine Nov 15?! i hope i find it,and i hope there isn't snow conditions- either way i will try to be there- and i don't mind a small crowd just to see my friends making great sound in a gallery... if i get lost in racine i will be calling you -^_^
Hi there, I'm back again. And I have a new Flash Player on my page. You can find it after the slide-shows. It's about Christmas, of course. Enjoy! And please read the words above the player. Hope you'll like those old and new songs. May this winter be good to you! mael
Paul and Chris, Greetings my brothers, glad to find some other Christians out here making original ambient/electronic/atmospheric music. Found you all through Paul's interview on Electroambient Space. Just got your 'Seed' CD along with one of Paul's solo CDs in the mail from Hypnos yesterday. I am hooked, you all are awesome!!! Keep it up. Hope to chat with you more in the future! Blessings, Roger Beyond Our Galaxy
Hello, my friend! Today I give you the third and last story from ELE: Mama Gaia. It's about our Mother Earth. I presume you all love her. But... do you know her? Please read my BLOG and think a little... Waiting for your feedback, I wish you a magic summer. mael
the telephone man and the headless humanoids stretched back the stapled window of elevant reality to discover the visitor and the sea woman were standing motionless and listening to majale...
Yes, I can feel your mentors here. You are extremelly exigent with yourself. So you make high quality electromusic. Congrats!
I'll be back from time to time.
Hope you like my music too.
Be creative!
mael
our new record "every day is a new disaster" is being mixed right now, and you're going to love it! promise ;)
it would help us out soooooooo much if you'd tell all of your friends about us! the easiest way to do this is to put one of our songs and banners up on your profile and add us to your 'top friends'! then when your friends ask about us, say nice things :-b
also, you should sign our e-mail mailing list so you know when we're coming near you on tour! you can sign up right through our profile! yay!
I remember the evening I met ya all when you opened for Steve in Milwaukee. The power went out two or three times as you build up a nice sound. While this was bad for you it was kinda funny at the same time. I think a lot of audible “shit man”s were uttered each time the power suddenly shut off. There was a bowling alley underneath us as I recall. Hey a cut for “On This Planet” emerged from the headliner and we all had some beers at a pub with a large pumpkin after the show.
It is good to see the sound of MaJaLe continue to move forward. The new collection “Garden” is fantastic. While it’s still new to me I will listen to it a few more times over the next month so I can feel it fuller. If your music was not available as a downloadable purchase I probably would not hear it. As much as I understand and appreciate the full resolution of an audio CD, I’m pretty much done with getting music this way. The iTunes and Snocap method of supporting audio art is my preferred way of buying music. There are a few CDs that I do take the time to acquire (Asmorod for one is worth the purchase) I am glad all I had to do was click and wait ten minutes to have your new album in my listening space.
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