Phil Gerus: Melding Jazz and Electronica

Phil Gerus digs Jazz. Phil Gerus digs Funk. Phil Gerus digs Soul and R&B. Phil Gerus digs House.

Now imagine growing up in Moscow listening to Oscar Peterson, Bill Evans and Keith Jarrett, all legends of Jazz. Studying Classical Piano would be the next natural step for anyone wanting to enter the world of recorded music. That’s exactly what Phil did, although not in Classical or Jazz sense. Instead, Gerus embraced his influences in Jazz and melded it with infectious electronic beats and sound effects, slapping bass lines and groovy disco influenced guitar riffs, creating a sound and style all his own that can be heard on every release he’s put out.

Phil appeared on our radar by pure luck and after previewing his latest EP, ‘Nothing Twice’ on the Bastard Jazz label, we were intrigued and had to listen and learn more. Being a fan of “Jazztronica” and listening to many of the genre’s albums over the course of 10 years, I found Gerus to be a new voice and deserving of some high praise for his musical vision, composition and technical skills which are aptly demonstrated on the new release.

Needless to say, BEATSELECTOR Magazine is not the first media outlet to take notice of Gerus. DJ Magazine, XLR8R, BBC Radio 1 and MixMag have given editorial space to this rising DJ and rightfully so.

2016 will be an active year for Gerus as he releases a new EP on Futureboogie in January or February and an EP titled ‘Penciled’ on the ManMakeMusic label at a date to be determined. In the meantime, I suggest that you, the reader, check out his previous recordings which can be found on Phonocake, Fuselab, Sonar Kollektiv, ManMakeMusic, Futureboogie, MadTech, Symbols and Bastard Jazz.

—Joseph Arthur

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