ASTRAKAN
Genres: Pop, Art Song, Folk • United Kingdom

Astrakan the post jazz, post fusion, band was founded as the Astrakan Collective by Michael Garcia in 2004, a group of 10 to 15 musicians. By 2008 the group had slimmed down to a 5 piece which recorded their eponymous debut at Cowshed Studios. Michael left in 2011 when they were joined by vocalist and keyboardist Celia Lu and bass player Jeff Spencer for the second album 'Comets and Monsters' (2012). Music composed by Fowler, Wigens and Hardy favoured the jazz end of the fusion spectrum with arrangements punctuated by Celia Lu's idiosyncratic lyrics. The third album 'Hidden Agenda' recorded by Lu, Fowler and Hardy was released in 2016. A new album with greater electronic influences, 'Pandora's Broken Unicorn' was released in 2020 written and performed by Lu and Hardy. from facebook