Stream It From The Mountain: Barrett Martin Group – Transcendence

Grammy-winning producer, composer and percussionist Barrett Martin creates an unconventional brand of jazz music informed in part by his punk and 90’s grunge background.  Best known for his work with 90’s Seattle bands Screaming Trees and Mad Season, Martin has since gone on to contribute his percussion skills to many different bands and genres as an in-demand session musician, showcasing his dynamic versatility. His sixth album with his solo project, the Barrett Martin Group is titled, Transcendence and is out now on Sunyata Records.  The album was produced by Martin and mixed by longtime collaborator Jack Endino (Nirvana, Soundgarden).     

Martin leads the group with a percussion-heavy set of genre-defiant songs driven by rhythms influenced both by rock and funk grooves as well as more exotic African, Brazilian, and Cuban rhythms.  The two songs featuring Queens Of The Stone Age guitarist David Catching are among the standouts; “Wizard of The Desert” with its stuttering beat and “The Asp” with its rubbery bass line, punchy horns and propulsive guitar riff and accompanying blazing solo.  Legendary Jazz keyboardist and composer Wayne Horvitz (the funk-flavored psychedelia of “Sands Of Venus”) and REM guitarist Peter Buck (“The Grover”) also contribute alongside Martin’s ensemble featuring, bassist Evan Flory-Barnes, guitarist Andy Coe, pianist/keyboardist Ryan Burns, saxophonist Hans Teuber, trumpet player Dave Carter and fellow percussionists Thione Diop and Lisette Garcia.    

The Barrett Martin Group brings the funk fueled by an impressive array of percussion-heavy exotic rhythms on their excellent new album, Transcendence.     

Stream Transcendence here: