IT’S HERE! Best Foot Forward is my first solo album release in 5 years, available to buy exclusively through Bandcamp. Best Foot Forward features a compilation of unreleased recordings, heavy yet funky with a sprinkle of electronics and LOTS of guitar. https://martinchung.bandcamp.com/album/best-foot-forward
jazz
Nimbus at #2 on BandCamp Charts
I just want to say a big thank you to everyone who has picked up a copy of my EP Nimbus over the past 24 hours, putting the album at NUMBER 2 on Bandcamp’s best-selling jazz albums chart. I’m completely blown away by the response! If you haven’t heard Nimbus yet you can check out out over at https://martinchung.bandcamp.com/album/nimbus
Nimbus Out Today!
Today is the day! Very proud and excited to announce my debut EP Nimbus is out now over at Bandcamp. This past 6 months the album has grown from an individual university project into an important personal and creative statement (pretty much taking over my life in the process!).
I would like to thank everyone involved in helping me make this project a reality, particular my family and friends for all their love and support over the past few months. Also a number of special thanks to certain personnel who’s knowledge and expertise contributed directly to the finished product:
Professor Monty Adkins for all his help and constructive criticism supervising this project, helping me become a better composer and further develop my own musical voice.
Dr. Alex Harker for getting me started on the rollercaoster ride that is creative coding in Max MSP, a daunting world for someone with zero programming experience! Using Max has honestly changed my life and changed the way I write music.
Dr. Philip Thomas for opening up my ears to the exciting world of experimental/contemporary music, raising my awareness and wonder in the sounds that we take for granted every day.
Ian Sanderson for his time and effort taking me step by step through the mastering process. Truly a deep and dark art requiring patience and golden ears!
A Few Moments Practice
Working on incorporation of arpeggio lines and legato (hammer-ons and pull-offs) into my single note lines.
An Insight Into The Jazz Of Norway
A major inspiration on the direction of this album are a number of jazz musicians originating largely out of Norway. Far from jazz’s original birthplace in the US, these Scandanavian artists draw upon a wide range of influences from traditional modal folk melodies, rock, free improvisation and contemporary classical music. Along with a certain minimalist aesthetic apparent in their work, there are a number of compositional features of particular interest to me including the use of drones, incorporation of synthetic percussion and the use of live electronics to process instrumentation.
This documentary highlights some of the artists currently active within this unique musical community including pianist Bugge Wesseltoft, trumpet player Nils Petter Molvaer and guitarist Eivind Aarset.
Martin Chung 