Atlas Maior at the Milwaukee Jazz Gallery on October 25, 2025

I was very fortunate to be able to catch Atlas Maior, a delightfully flavorful world fusion jazz quartet from Austin, TX at the venerable Jazz Gallery back in October. I'll let the band's bio from their website do the heavy lifting of describing their sound: 

Atlas Maior creates original music that combines elements of Progressive Jazz, Middle Eastern, Latin American, and Indian music traditions. Band members Joshua Thomson (alto saxophone, flutes) and Josh Peters (oud, lavta) create a unique sound that balances intimate moments of sincerity with powerful melodies and incendiary rhythmic passages. Bolstered by a top-notch rhythm section, Atlas Maior writes original melodies exploring maqamat (Middle Eastern modal system) and harmonic progressions found in American jazz. The group composes with a wide variety of rhythms and incorporates traditional instruments including the Indian tablas, Middle Eastern dumbek, and Peruvian cajón.

Purchase their most recent album here.

Recording information:

ATLAS MAIOR

2025-10-25

Milwaukee, WI

The Jazz Gallery

Josh Peters: oud

Joshua Thomson: alto saxophone

Josh Flowers: bass 

Gray Parsons: drums 

Setlist:

01 Ignis Faatus - Nadal (16:27)

02 Orbits (4:42)

03 Basalt (4:53)

04 Zanate (8:27)

05 The Curse (9:12)

06 Neroli (5:15)

07 Ganbei (4:56)

08 Etch and Burn (5:26)

09 Riptide (10:46)

10 Sunbird (8:27)

Total time = 78:30

Recorded with permission by Richard Hayes for this blog

Microphones: Line Audio CM3 in ORTF

Recorder: Sound Devices MixPre6ii at 32/96

Software: Audacity, Fission, xAct

downloads:

16bit, 44.1 kHz FLAC files (476 MB)

these lossless files can be burned to CDR, if you are into that sort of thing

320 kbps mp3 files (229 MB)

highest quality lossy mp3 files possible