New Single / Video by Martez: "Don't Make Me Wait"

Buy at bandcamp http://martez.bandcamp.com

Stream on major platforms here: https://share.amuse.io/V4UvcTaZMf9z

HONG KONG / ART BASEL / EUROPE SPRING 2019

I’m back home in a moment of repose and pivot after five weeks on tour with Antibalas.

We began the tour in late March in Hong Kong (our first trip there and only other Asia appearance outside of Japan). We played the LACMA X UCCA Party connected to Art Basel.

I wasn’t sure what we were in for but it was a beautiful and strange night filled with immersive dance and theater performances, lots of people in couture, and a performance before us by Vava, an MC from China who put on a really good show.

The jet lag was intense and at times, crippling.

We had a few days to walk around before the next leg of the trip.

Part Two: Europe

From Hong Kong we flew via Moscow to Paris. It was not a nice flight, and the transfer was hectic.

We arrived in Paris and none of our checked luggage had arrived: no clothes, nor instruments (except for what we gate-checked and carried by hand.

Luckily our stuff arrived the evening before our first show in La Rochelle.

We set off on the next 3.5 weeks in a sprinter van and 4-person car throughout France, Switzerland, Belgium, Netherlands, England and Ireland.

Sugar Club, Dublin Ireland.

The shows were a lot of fun and the level of production overall was tremendous, a much higher level than what we normally experience at clubs of the same size in the US. A large part of this has to do with two things: culture is taken seriously as a profession and social benefit/right and 2) The state (at local, regional and national levels provides financial support to both venues and festivals which allows them to staff each event with capable staff who are trained and getting paid okay.

It was non-stop, and has to be when you have 12 people on the road all needing to eat, drink, sleep and move. We can’t really afford many days off.

In Zurich, we made a horn squad field trip to the workshop of Thomas Indirbinen who makes some of the most divine instruments I’ve ever seen and played. These baritone saxophones are so balanced and resonant, top to bottom. Saving my Swiss francs…

The squad was top notch and we had Jerome Bach on sound and tour managing. I can’t imagine having done this run without him.

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Part Three: New Orleans / Jazz Fest / Music Box Village

The Music Box Village is hard to describe: it’s a cluster of home-made buildings made from repurposed materials that are musical. Each one has different sounds (percussive, chimes, horns, metal, strings) and can be played with the other buildings. Everything is mic’ed or has electric pickups and the sound is fed and mixed through a soundboard.

We did a hybrid performance using our own instruments integrated with the sounds of the buildings. We had two days to get the repertoire and new compositions and set together. On day one it poured for five hours straight so our rehearsal was confined to the warehouse.

The day of the show we had pure sunshine and got to work setting up and testing the sounds.

Collaboration: Dos Santos new album "LOGOS" feat. Antibalas horns out 6/15/2018

About 15 years ago I was passing through Austin Texas on my way back from México. My man Adrian Quesada introduced me to musician (and at that time grad student) Alex Chávez. I moved to Austin and lived there for several years, and got to collaborate on a few occasions with Alex and the group MITOTE.

The years went by...Alex earned a Ph.D and is now a professor at Notre Dame and a few years back got an exciting new project called Dos Santos up and running out of Chicago.

Last fall, while on tour with Antibalas, we linked up again and recorded two songs for the new Dos Santos album. The session was a trip: we had very little time in between soundcheck and the gig, so they built an impromptu recording studio across the street from Thalia Hall at 606 Records. Amidst the bins of vinyl and sips of very good tequila, the four of us--Jordan McLean and Eric Biondo (trumpets), Morgan Price (tenor sax) and myself (baritone sax) knocked out the two songs with great charts by Nick Mazzarella.

Thanks to Dos Santos for inviting the Antibalas horns to be a part of this beautiful work.

L-R: Pete "Maestro" Vale, Martín Perna, Alex Chavez

The record is officially out 6/15/2018 on International Anthem. Preview/order the record HERE.

Oct. 1 - NYC - Carnegie Hall: The Music of Bill Withers

Along with the Antibalas horn section, I'll be part of this tribute to one of my favorite singers of all time, Bill Withers. I'm honored to be part of an amazing cast of singers and musicians, including musical director Greg Phillinganes.

I've been working transcribing and arranging horn parts off the "Live at Carnegie"record and "Hits" for the four piece section including my colleagues Jordan McLean, Ray Mason, and Jas Walton.

MORE INFO: http://www.musicof.org/

Upcoming collab: Fabrizio Cammarata

This September, I'll be headed to Palermo, Sicily to work with singer/songwriter Fabrizio Cammarata on his new album. We met a few years back on my first trip to Palermo and he and I have stayed in loose touch since then.

I'll be bringing some flutes, 1-2 one, some percussion and a few gizmos and we'll see what we come up with.

I am very excited to get back to Sicily. I was able to make a week-long trip after Questlove's Afro-Picks back in 2011. I spent two nights in a grimy hostel in Catania, then took the train across the north side of the island to Palermo, where I met up with Christoph Storbeck, Fabrizio's manager. I spent four or five days there getting to know the town and meeting some musicians and getting lost in the ancient delicious weirdness of Palermo.