Mast

“ambitious and deeply engaging” - NPR

“an engaging panoply of sounds” - Wall St Journal

“..captures the engaging blend of electronic music, jazz and hip-hop that’s been thriving in the underground. What once sounded like the future has arrived right on time.” - LA Times

“He thinks big, real big…musically deep stuff…” - LA Weekly

“Ambitious L.A. polyinstrumentalist MAST outdoes himself..” - LA Record

“MAST is mixing free-jazz with left-of-center instrumental rap beats, and this record thrusts him into the ever-popular jazz/hip hop conversation." - Downbeat

“The man’s approach to electronic music not only incorporates a whole lot of organic sounds — it feels composed with an ear tuned to jagged jazz and dark pop, which makes him kin to folks like Flying Lotus, Thundercat” - SPIN

A Philadelphia native now residing in Los Angeles, Tim Conley is a jazz musician, composer, producer and electronic musician. His solo electronic project MAST draws together different sonic elements and channels them out through intense live performances. With a composers mind and a jazz musicians desire for exploring new improvisational realms, MAST incorporates crushing beats, live guitar and keyboards and has journeyed throughout the US, Canada, Europe and Japan.

On Jan 26th 2018 MAST will release his 3rd LP “Thelonious Sphere Monk”, a cosmic journey reinterpreting the great Thelonious Monk Song Book in celebration of his 100th birthday. The 16 track LP features a diverse cast of extraordinary musicians including Chris Speed, Brian Marsella, Makaya McCraven, Jason Fraticelli, Dan Rosenboom and more. Each contributing instrumental virtuosity which these Thelonious Monk compositions demand. Tim pays homage to the significant history of Thelonious Monk and his esteemed compositions while bringing them into the future using modern electronic bleeps, bloops and beats in concert with the Low End Theory, Los Angeles Beat culture Conley is a part of. Harmonious with the mystical and metaphysical hand painted cover art by Japanese artist Tokio Aoyama, each track created is a unique world unto itself and the listener travels from one musical planet to the next on the spaceship Monk.

The 2nd MAST album "Love and War_" was released Oct 2016 via Alpha Pup Records. "Love and War_" is a conceptual album set up as a 3 Act play structure and features Taylor McFerrin, Tim Lefebvre, Makaya McCraven, the Fresh Cut Orchestra, Andrée Belle and more. Other notable MAST albums include the 2014 debut “Omni” featuring soul-navigating vocal gestures of Anna Wise (Sonnymoon, Kendrick Lamar), way-out raps from Brainfeeder/Warp's Jeremiah Jae and lullaby serenades from Low Leaf. Two conceptual EP’s “Omniverse; Verse 1” and Omniverse; Verse 2" soon followed "Omni" all via Alpha Pup Records.​

Recently Tim was awarded a Jazz Residency Grant from the Kimmel Center (home of the Philadelphia Orchestra) to commission a new work along with three other composers. The 4 movement piece titled "Life Mosaic: reflections on Birth, Adolescence, Maturity and Death" was an electronic/classical/jazz hybrid performed by Tim with the Fresh Cut Orchestra, an 11 piece Jazz Orchestra and debuted June 2014. Since then the Fresh Cut Orchestra has released 2 albums on Ropeadope Records, featuring Tim on guitar and electronics, and garnering 4 Stars from Downbeat.

Tim has performed at the world famous Low End Theory in LA, the Kennedy Center in Washington DC, Lincoln Center in New York City and has had music featured on Mary Anne Hobbs BBC, Gilles Peterson BBC Radio and Nosey Apple Beats 1. He has also performed at Festivals like the Halifax Jazz Festival in Nova Scotia, Gilles Peterson’s World Wide Showcase in Tokyo and The Disco Biscuits Camp Bisco in upstate New York. Along his journey Tim has performed with Jose James, Mark Guiliana, Taylor McFerrin, Tim Lefebvre, Makaya McCraven.