Album Notes

“Solo jazz guitar from a straight-ahead perspective can work wonders for the soul. As Larry Martus interprets his program of original compositions, you can feel the smooth vibrations sinking in. Transcendence, the guitarist’s debut album, finds him journeying through the blues, moody swing, and traces of classical Spanish guitar.
In Martus’ hands, the guitar is a tool for expressing his innermost feelings and enhancing thoughts with appropriate colors all around.”


-Jim Santella, All About Jazz



"Martus is a gifted player who has transcended technical limitations. More importantly, he is also very sensitive composer, and the pieces here are very delicate, covering a wide range of emotions, but mostly on the introspective and intimate side. The music pulls you in, and you feel like he is playing just for you. Most impressively, Larry Martus has somehow managed to communicate his feelings directly through music.
If you want to listen to his technique, each piece emphasizes something different. Most impressive is his ability to keep a vamp going, or at least the feel of one, while playing a melody or improvisations. Although he does not play a walking bass line, Martus has the Joe Pass pick-plus-finger technique down cold, and he puts it to remarkable use in this music. Actually, his technique tends to fade into the background and serves only to help bring the music to the foreground. There is a lot to listen to from a technical perspective if you want, but then you might miss the music.
And as a musician expressing himself and communicating to the listener, Larry Martus is as good as it gets on Transcendence.”


-Budd Kopman, All About Jazz