"Simply one of the best, most creative blends of tech and taksim out there. Electronic grooves adapted to meet mid-eastern moods and melodies, instead of the other way 'round, which is usually the case." Makyo Dakini Records

Saracen is the first full-length solo recording from Jef Stott who has been on the global music scene for over a decade, helping to found the bands Stellamara and Lumin and producing records by the Tunisian-born MC RAI and the Persian fusion group Somma, among others. He released last year’s SoukSonik, an EP, on Six Degrees’ digital-only Emerging Artists series, but with his convincing blend of Middle Eastern and North African instruments and rhythms with modern dance music, Stott “emerged” fairly quickly. The EP charted heavily on CMJ and Jazziz, and a busy live touring schedule in Japan, Canada, Los Angeles, and Miami helped set the stage, finally, for his solo debut.
“I’d been producing bands for over 10 years,” Stott explains, “and I just really wanted to do something on my own. I’m really enjoying the freedom and the mobility of a solo project.” Of course, “solo” doesn’t mean “unaided” – one of the most striking features of Saracen is the appearance of some swirling vocals, in Arabic and Persian, by MC RAI, Reda Darwish, and Hooman Fazly. But Stott himself plays most of the instruments: the oud, of course, but also the Turkish lutes known as saz and cumbus, the Persian santur (a hammered dulcimer), the electric bass, and lots of hand percussion. Four of the songs on Saracen originally appeared on Stott’s Emerging Artist digital-only EP. But Jef re-recorded and reworked them, adding new performances and programming to each.
At a time when that part of the world is very much on Westerners’ minds, Saracen offers a glimpse into a different part of Arab and Persian culture.

"Simply one of the best, most creative blends of tech and taksim out there. Electronic grooves adapted to meet mid-eastern moods and melodies, instead of the other way 'round, which is usually the case." Makyo Dakini Records

"Sexy aural soundscapes for an erotic dance party in the desert... is that an oasis?" - Nickodemus