WE'LL SHIP WHEN IT'S BACK IN STOCK

Album Notes

THE VISION

With his own original compositions, Cai has a clear vision: to bring what made jazz-fusion in the 1970s and 80s so good, to the modern day. Memorable tunes that you'll end up whistling, grooves that simmer then boil over. Organic tunes that make modern jazz about melodies and 'in-the-moment' spontaneity. With his debut album 'Mr. Ears', Cai is looking to start this revival from 2009.

For Cai, it is time for the re-emergence of spine-tingling chord progressions that stun you with their subtlety and melodies that keep you humming and whistling for years. Improvisation that is based in the heat of the moment, life experience, and the life experiences of the musicians around you, and not the cold lifeless practice drills confined to solo practice. Cai wants his compositions to each have a different character to them enable him to be able to breathe life and a narrative into each one. Cai’s aim (along with his ongoing aim in music) is for this to be the opening chapter of his story.

CAI'S INFLUENCES

Cai’s music is influenced by many artists but in a pure form, it is a contemporary view of the aspects of jazz that made the genre so popular back in the 1960s, '70s and ‘80s. A big influence of his is 'Weather Report', who, along with Chick Corea and Miles Davis, all managed to combine the complexities of jazz with electronica whilst retaining a faultless sense of melody. Essentially, Cai sees his music as an antidote to over-composed modern jazz which has lost a sense of memorable melody and subtlety. It draws on many different influences ranging from rock to world music, to contemporary styles such as drum and bass and other electronica.

Cai is a huge admirer of many musicians from many genres throughout the decades; from Charlie Parker, Bach and Jaco Pastorius to present stars such as Janek Gwizdala, Hadrien Feraud, EST and Joshua Redman. His wide-ranging influences coupled with his love of playing and creating music with a strong organic quality gives him not only a cultured sound and approach to his instrument but also a unique appeal to musicians and non-musicians alike. It is this organic approach that gives life to debut album ‘Mr. Ears’, and the musicians that play on it are of a similar vein. Cai believes that this organic quality is lacking from most contemporary jazz, music which is focused purely on technicality and obscure, often irrelevant sound effects.

MR. EARS REVIEWS:

"...with Cai's abundance of catchy tunes, snaking funk riffs and his own forceful fretless playing showing he has plenty of original ideas...Marle-Garcia drives this band along with bubbling basslines and some serious solos.

"'Mr. Ears' is a satisfying and substantial album that marks the arrival of a promising new British bass talent."

Bassist and journalist Mike Flynn

"'Mr. Ears' sounds immense. Great solos, beautiful touch and wonderfully melodic...and the writing is brilliant."

Bassist Laurence Cottle

"[Mr. Ears is] pleasantly melodic and immaculately played with Marle-Garcia's rippling, bubbling bass at the heart of the sound providing stimulus for some classy soloing...Marle-Garcia's lovely liquid electric bass...[sounds] remarkably like Jaco in one of his more lyrical moments.

"There is considerable potential here. Cai Marle-Garcia is definitely one to watch."

Ian Mann - www.thejazzmann.com

"Cai Marle-Garcia is a fretless phenomenon. He is one of those very rare players that is connected to the portal, that somehow allows him to play with a pure spirit. No filters, no ego trips...just the pure joy of musical genius.

While there are many players that excel at mimicking my dear friend, the late great Jaco Pastorius, Cai has a certain spark of originality that will someday develop into a full-blown firestorm, of music yet to be heard."

Guitarist and composer Dann Glenn

"'Cai’s own compositions, were remarkably successful in putting some real feeling into a strong melodic line...it could develop into something exceptional"

Journalist Sebastian Taylor