Toby Pazner has a Temple of Sound. In what sounds like a suspiciously apt origin story, the musician played a show at the Acropolis in Athens, swam in the Aegean Sea, and had a dream in which a most chill toga-clad dude levied him the charge of telling the story of Ancient Greece in song form. Pazner apparently had this dream night after night, and it only subsided once he built his own studio and did the damn thing, essentially making the Daptone family member a New York version of Ray Kinsella.
In other words, Pazner built it, and here we are. And the reason we’re here is because of the smooth punch of “Apollo’s Mood,” a cut taken from Pazner’s debut with his band The Olympians (naturally) that we’re premiering this morning. You hardly have to know Thessaloniki from Thebes to feel the groove that the group take their time carving here. Across the album, which is out October 28 via Daptone, The Olympians trade on a version of soul whose richness belies its pedigree: in addition to Pazner, who plays with Lee Fields and The Expressions, the group features alums of Charles Bradley’s Extraordinaires, Budos Band, The Arcs, The Dap-Kings, Antibalas, and more. And while the connections to ancient Greece are specious at best—we’re talking about instrumental soul music, after all, with nary a lyre or pan flute to be found—it’s still a sound that feels strong enough to resonate back through the centuries.
Give “Apollo’s Moood” a listen below.
The Olympians is out October 28 via Daptone, but you can preorder the album here.
