Miguel Atwood Ferguson

As I was transcribing the interview, I turned up the volume to ‘Angel’, sung by Dwele. That track is based on his song called Lady Love, performed more elaborately with orchestra and done for Mama Dukes, in loving memory of his son, J.Dilla. The man behind the orchestration is this guy.

N-F : What were you like as a child and why did you pick music as your main element?

M.A.F : I was generally a child that asked a lot of questions, thought for my own, was a little mischievous, liked jokes, sports, nature and music. I focused on music because it seemed like the most fun and I liked the challenge of it all. My father is a genius musician and was always immersed in music. This greatly affected me and seemed very natural to me as well

N-F: How would you describe your music?

M.A.F : Generally speaking, I think my music is highly emotional. It celebrates the unknown and is intended to be empowering and encouraging in some way that is very real to the listener. I have also described my music as being like the ocean. Sometimes the ocean is very calm and serene and at other times is violently churning. It is definitely a conscious goal of mine to have my music activate the listener’s most ideal self and inspire them to manifest that.

N-F: If you could pick anyone, from any era to be in your dream team, (musically) who would they be?

M.A.F : Lol! I’ve actually never done this before… Okay here goes. I would create a small village of musicians that would put on live shows and record. They would alternate between each other and mix and match. In no particular order it would involve-

Maurice Ravel, J.S.Bach, James Brown, Stevie Wonder, John Coltrane Paul Jackson (bassist), James Jamerson,Dave Holland, Brian Blade, Elvin Jones, Larry Young,Jimi Hendrix, Bill Evans, Alice Coltrane, Aretha Franklin, J Dilla, Bob Marley, Freddie Hubbard, Woody Shaw, Joe Henderson, Wayne Shorter, Herbie Hancock and Thelonious Monk.

N-F: Holy Messarati! That is such an extensive list. Bet you would need studios in every city to make it happen. So, you worked with a Malaysian artist named Zee Avi, how was that experience?

M.A.F : It was a great experience. Zee is really fun to be around and she is just a brilliant woman in general. She was very supportive and enthusiastic. I look forward to working with her again someday.

N-F: we all love every single arrangement you did for the J.Dilla tribute. How did that go about?

M.A.F : My friend Carlos Niño and I had plans to approach Dilla with the idea of all working on an orchestral album together. Then a year later, Dilla passed. Carlos and I loved his music so much that we decided to go forward with the idea and release the first track on Dilla’s Birthday as a small tribute to him. The track we did was ‘Nag Champa’. People really loved it. We decided to release another track the following year, ‘Find A Way’. Then, that led to us doing an EP for Mochilla soon there after. When Mochilla had the idea of doing a Timeless concert series a year later, Dilla was mentioned, which then resulted in me being chosen to reimagine Dilla’s music for that concert.

Photo credit : Violetta Markelou

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