Unfound Places by Ben Marston & Hugh Barrett
Art As Catharsis is proud to announce the release of Ben Marston & Hugh Barrett’s Unfound Places – a delicate mix of ambience and jazz culminating into weightless soundscapes you can almost vanish into.
To compare such a beautiful piece of work to anything else almost seems unfair, but Canberra-born Marston cites legendary musicians and composers such as Jon Hassell and Jan Bang, his mentor, as huge influences to his work. This manifests in the breathtaking array of stripped down electronics which guide the journey-inspiring compositions, shimmering with hints of Brian Eno’s atmospheric ambience.
“Jan is one of the most generous teachers I have ever had the pleasure of studying under,” says Marston,” which was evidenced by him arranging for me to spend time with Nils Petter Molvaer, Arve Henriksen and Eivind Aarset at the Punkt Festival in 2014. I had never been so inspired to make music in a way that is honest to yourself and this is what I know strive to do.”
The beauty of Unfound Places is that every song on the record feels fresh, spacious and gorgeous. Each one of the eight tracks creates a feeling like you’re waking up to a new world of beauty and colour – it’s riddled with perfect moments of evocative, touching minimalism.
A truly charming record, and well worth noticing for lovers of spacious, calm ambience, minimalism and meditative sounds.
"Marston & Barrett present an impressive array of approaches to the trumpet and keys duo - from acoustic piano and trumpet to spooky Jon Hassell harmonised trumpet to In A Silent Way-era Davis with Hancock/Corea and more. Even in the more unusual modalities, there's an attractive Australianness to the ambient/minimalist jazz sensibility."
- Peter Hollo
Tracklist
| 1. | The Crisp Breath Of Dawn | 5:38 |
| 2. | Rock The Boat | 7:23 |
| 3. | The Quiet Hero | 5:56 |
| 4. | Mind Reader | 5:38 |
| 5. | Movement 1.2 | 4:27 |
| 6. | The Northward March | 3:02 |
| 7. | Sleepyhead | 6:00 |
| 8. | Winds Of Range | 5:48 |
Credits
trumpet and laptop: Ben Marston
piano and rhodes: Hugh Barrett
mastering: Lawrence English
photos: TBC
design: Adam J Bragg
License
All rights reserved.
Ben is a trumpeter, composer and teacher from Canberra who is currently working on improvised music that uses samples to create soundscapes. This album however features music from earlier in his career and is heavily influenced by more traditional contemporary jazz artists such as Kenny Wheeler and Charles Mingus.