Weird, beautiful world, I need some escape plan.

John Martin - Tenor saxophone
Ralph Wyld - Vibraphone
Rob Updegraff - Guitar
Tim Fairhall - Double bass 
Tim Giles - Drum

Recorded at Fish Factory studios on the 29 & 30 July 2015.
Mastered by Mandy Parnell 
Released on F-ire 10th of June 2016

“Instead of the noisy squawks and atonal meditations of free jazz, Martin’s interest in the horn’s extended techniques lies in a more quietly lyrical and painterly expression of his themes...a charmingly expressive alternative to some of the more in-yer-face enterprises in current UK”

★★★★ Selwyn Harris – Jazzwise, August 2016

“Few new releases come with quite such a specific technical claim as this double release from British saxophonist John Martin…Martin’s originality is explorative rather than explosive…a technique of infinite subtlety and a restless sensitivity that ruffles and wrestles with existing modes of expression…The understated brilliance of the multiphonics is Martin’s defining feature”

★★★★ Matthew Wrighter – The Arts Desk

“Highly distinctive... I was very impressed with “Spirit Of Adventure which lives up to its name as Martin and his associates attempt to navigate fresh ground and a new sound...this is a very well balanced and well integrated group... that gives full reign to Martin’s innovative saxophone techniques”
★★★★ Ian Mann – Thejazzmann

"Very cool use of multiphonics and overtones… beautiful and compelling" Bob Mintzer

"John Martin has thought (and realised) the unthinkable; harnessing all the crazy and wild multiphonic sounds that a saxophone can make, he has crafted them within the finest compositions. No small feat. These resources are hard to control, and it is a  patient labour of some love for the instrument that he has succeeded where others have not dared tread... not just the gimmick of one squawky tune, but a controlled double album of surprises and varied emotion... A milestone for both himself and the saxophone world" 

Barak Schmool - Founder of the F-ire Collective

The Hidden Notes 

When a musician plays a note of a certain pitch, the musical instrument resonates, producing a complex pattern of sound waves made up of many different frequencies. The most noticeable sound wave is called the fundamental, but there are other waves with higher frequencies, called harmonics. These are the hidden notes.

John Martin has spent the last 4 years coaxing these rather shy and often badly behaved notes out from their hiding places. Through the use of special fingerings and blowing techniques it is possible to produce several notes simultaneously, extending the sound world of the saxophone from a monophonic to a polyphonic instrument. Martin's focus is on incorporating these polyphonic sounds into tonal music.

Circular breathing then allows for the development of continuous rhythmic patterns, opening up many new exciting rhythmic and textural possibilities.



Followers of The Hidden Notes