Tag Archives: Jazz

Extra Time Scores Again at International Film Festivals

June 25, 2024 Marshall Cullen

Extra Time, Brendan McNamara’s collaboration project, brings together premium artists on his newest labor of love, Songs With Long Titles.

The first two singles, Where Is The Light, and the current release The Girl Who Rules The Sea are available now alongside the album release.

Both singles have been brought to life by inspiring video clips, with both achieving high view numbers on YouTube and also capturing the attention of international reviewers.

Where Is The Light, released in January 2024, features animation by renowned Sydney-based Brazilian artist Gabriel Gareso. The video has been officially selected for Lift Off International Film Festivals in Berlin, Tokyo, Austin, and Manchester, while also making the official selection for the Richmond International Film Festival (RIFF), one of the Mid-Atlantic’s largest and most sought after international competitive festivals, and AniMate, the Australian International Animation Film Festival, now in it’s fifth year.

The video for Extra Time’s newest single, The Girl Who Rules The Sea, is brought to life through live drone and underwater footage shot by Leonard Clifford and Chris Flaxman, and motion art by renowned French artist Veronita Va, who brought to life McNamara’s concept of a Piet Mondrian artwork, drawing the eye to the ‘girl who rules the sea’ as she swims through the crystal blue waters of Bondi Beach.

Recent quotes:

“The soft jazz undertones add a calming element that is similar of peaceful beach days spent taking in the grandeur of the ocean and the peace that it provides after the chaos. More than just a song,”The Girl Who Rules The Sea’ is a love letter to Bondi Beach and an ode to the unsung heroes who have a profound effect on our lives.” - Skylight Webzine

“Extra Time stands as a testament to the power of genuine musical craftsmanship in an era dominated by digital enhancements. Renowned for its cinematic and harmonically rich compositions, the project blends intricate musical narratives with authentic performances.” - Fenomen Magazine

“The romantic track from Extra Time is a wonderful combination of light, airy music and deep, but at the same time light text that can fill everyone’s heart with a feeling of freedom. The melody is full of tenderness and emotions, giving an exhaustible opportunity to dissolve in it again and again. Music that comes from the very depths of the soul” -nagamag.com

The vinyl release of Songs With Long Titles is available now – a beautiful gatefold presentation released globally on Foghorn Records, recorded and mixed at one of the industry’s leading spaces, Damien Gerard Studios at West Gosford, featuring a veritable who’s who of Sydney Session Musicians including Amanda Easton and Serena Jennings on sublime female backing vocals, Tim Firth on Drums, Brett Hirst Bass Guitar, Aaron Blakey Keyboards, Peter Koopman Acoustic and Electric Guitar, plus Horns and Strings all engineered and mixed by ex-LA engineer Andrew Beck and mastered by Grammy Award Winner William Bowden.

Watch The Music Video for The Girl Who Rules The Sea

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Extra Time – The Girl Who Rules the Sea(Official Music Video)

Video May 22, 2024 Marshall Cullen

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Extra Time Releases Single ‘The Girl Who Rules The Sea’

May 22, 2024 Marshall Cullen

Hailing from Sydney Australia, Extra Time are releasing the new single, The Girl Who Rules The Sea, from their current album Songs With Long Titles on 22 May.

Extra Time’s current double gatefold vinyl release is receiving glowing reviews internationally and they are proud to present the next single, The Girl Who Rules The Sea, beautifully accompanied by a video clip filmed at one of Australia’s most iconic landmarks – Bondi Beach.

As a young immigrant, Brendan tells of his almost fateful swim in the infamous Australian waters, where he was saved by a nearby surfer:
“The Girl Who Rules the Sea is a song about almost drowning at Bondi Beach in Sydney when I was six years old. As a kid from an Irish immigrant family, we were strong on enthusiasm but poor on swim technique. I was lucky enough to get rescued by an Amazonian surfer girl who introduced me to many new obscenities vastly expanding my swearing vocabulary.
The song is a love letter to Bondi where I was born and one of Australia’s best loved beaches.”

The video features live action drone and underwater footage shot by Leonard Clifford and Chris Flaxman and was edited by Nick Lever. Motion Editing was by French Motion Artist Veronita Va who ran with Brendan’s idea of creating an animated version of a Piet Mondrian painting featuring the bold geometric lines forming the signature grid of the neo plasticist artist. Aside from the aesthetic, drawing the eye to the ‘Girl Who rules the Sea’ as she swims through the crystal blue waters of Bondi Beach, the inspiration of Mondrian for a music video is also fitting as the music loving artist described the challenge of producing his work, saying: “I am searching for the proper harmony of rhythm and unchanging proportion.” His art is described as highly musical and later, Modrian ascribed specific dances to accompany his art.

The album Songs With Long Titles (the second studio recording from Extra Time) is a journey through intriguing stories of life, death, delusion, joy, passion and dreams in classic rock album format along with just enough jazz and blues influences to keep it interesting. Think Steely Dan meets Supertramp and Sting if you like references.
Lyricist, composer, and singer Brendan McNamara teamed up with ex Los Angeles co-producer and engineer Andrew Beck at Damien Gerard studios in West Gosford. A veritable A-List of session musicians were called in through the 20 plus days of recording and mixing, culminating in the special gatefold vinyl album out now.

MUSICIAN CREDITS

Tim Firth                  Drums
Brett Hirst                Bass
Aaron Blakey            Keyboards
Peter Koopman        Guitar
Amanda Easton        Vocals
Sarina Jennings        Vocals
Paul Murchison        Trumpet
Matthew Keegan      Trombone
Bridget Darby           French Horn
Luke Bartley             Tuba
Jane Stanley             Strings
Andrew Beck            Tubular Bells

The Girl Who Rules The Sea is OUT NOW

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Extra Time Receives Extra Accolades in Europe

February 5, 2024 Marshall Cullen

Extra Time Receives Extra Accolades in Europe with their Video Now in the Berlin Film Festival

The brand new release ‘Where Is The Light’ from Brendan McNamara’s project, Extra Time, is already scoring goals since its release on 22 January. The first single from the second album, ‘Songs With Long Titles’, is beautifully supported by an animated film clip created by renowned Sydney based Brazilian artist, Gabriel Gareso. The film clip has just been officially selected for the Berlin Lift Off Film Festival, screening in Berlin, Germany between 15 and 25 February.

‘Where Is The Light’ speaks of the Japanese ‘Hikikomori’ – a severe social withdrawal most prevalent in young adolescent males whereby they isolate themselves in their rooms for months on end. A highly relatable concept in today’s modern era and especially apt given Brendan’s day job as a video game creator and director.

The clip is the freelance 2D animator and illustrator’s first music video, so he has certainly made his mark being included in the international film festival.

“My goal was to delve into the emotional aspects of loneliness, highlighting that despite being more virtually connected than ever, loneliness and depression also seem stronger than ever. The main challenge of this project was to create an engaging visual interpretation of the song while keeping it within budget. 4 minutes of animation is a LOT. The band’s creative freedom was crucial, making the entire process exceptionally smooth.”

To date the video has amassed over 84,000 views! A unique opportunity to be part of the interactive release of Extra Time’s latest album is to look out for billboards featuring the album cover art created by German artist Lucas Zimmerman popping up worldwide. Extra Time invite you to take a selfie with one of the billboards and post it on social media tagging @extra_time_music in your post.

The vinyl release is available now for preorder – a beautiful gatefold presentation released globally on Foghorn Records, recorded and mixed at one of the industry’s leading spaces Damien Gerard Studios at West Gosford, featuring ex Los Angeles engineer Andrew Beck and mastered by Grammy Award Winner William Bowden.

WATCH THE FULL MUSIC VIDEO FOR ‘WHERE IS THE LIGHT’

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Extra Time Releases New Album ‘Songs With Long Titles’

January 22, 2024 Marshall Cullen

So it has been four years since our last album. We have been winnowing down the stories that we would like to tell and twelve new tunes made the cut. Taking badly recorded demos and some wildly inaccurate charts to Damien Gerard Studios in Gosford, Australia, we spent four days recording and knocking together arrangements into some kind of shape. Many of the musicians who played on the first record kindly agreed to go around again and try and make sense of what we had.

We had a few base principles. No samples, no Click, no Grid and no Autotune. Everything on the album was performed live by a musician. Our drummer was our click track. The whole album was recorded to 2” tape and then digitized into Pro Tools. The whole process was a lot of fun and hopefully that comes across in the music and the performance and in the behind the scenes videos that we will be releasing. We were looking for a high fi, harmonically interesting sound that would live up to all of the great records made by our heroes. Its up to you to decide whether we succeeded.

‘Songs With Long Titles’, the second album for Extra Time is a journey through intriguing stories of life, death, delusion, joy, passion and dreams in classic rock album format along with just enough jazz and blues influences to keep it interesting. Think Steely Dan meets Supertramp if you like references.

Lyricist, composer and singer Brendan McNamara has been honing his craft over many years and for this record teamed up with ex Los Angeles co producer and engineer Andrew Beck at Damien Gerard Studios in West Gosford. A veritable A List of session musicians were called in through the 20 plus days of recording and mixing.

The record was mixed at the same facility by Brendan and Andrew and Mastered by Grammy Winner William Bowden. Now released to the world in double gatefold vinyl – 3 songs per side for maximum quality, and digitally across all platforms on 22 January 2024.

About Extra Time
When you think of classic albums names like Sting, Pink Floyd, Steely Dan and Supertramp spring to mind. You might be surprised to know there is a Sydney based band that has been toiling away for some years creating some truly classic sounds and songs with a similar aesthetic and instrumentation.

The guys met at school and hit it off as a young band and writing team, but ever since have been involved in other projects and built careers locally and internationally. Extra Time became a creative outlet to record and release music they love.

The first album came out pre-covid, scoring some decent streaming figures and TV sync activity.

MUSICIAN CREDITS

Songs With Long Titles is OUT NOW

MUSIC VIDEO FOR SINGLE ‘WHERE IS THE LIGHT’

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Extra Time – ‘Where Is The Light’ (Official Music Video)

Video January 22, 2024 Marshall Cullen

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Foghorn Christmas Releases

December 6, 2023 Marshall Cullen

Get Into The Christmas Spirit With Gareth Koch’s Instrumental Album & Daxton’s Homegrown Blues/Jazz Album

‘Exquisite & ancient music reimagined with a shimmer of jangle. An audiophile recording.’

Imagine timeless European Christmas music played instrumentally, as if upon a choir of lutes. Ancient & exquisite songs, deep within the human psyche, are now newly arranged by ARIA Award winning guitarist Gareth Koch. The interpretations reveal his signature blend of contemporary flair laced with medieval sensibilities.

The arrangements are both elegant & appealing, sidestepping any notion of commercialised Christmas clichés. Re-imagined as troubadour-like ballads or tender Austrian folk songs, each carol receives a unique treatment. The listener is invited into an array of soundworlds, ranging from the early medieval to English folk-revival.

The music of this album leads us away from the bustle of many modern realities. Instead, we are drawn into a gentler universe, filled with subtlety & nuance. In any year, at any time, this album presents a Christmas message we all need to hear.

Song Descriptions
Little Drummer Boy
This timeless mid-tempo classic Christmas carol is dealt with not just using multiple classical guitar parts but with hand percussion and rice shakers.

God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen
A very old piece, dated to the 16th century and referred to in Charles Dickens ‘A Christmas Carol’. Gareth recreates the vocal melody perfectly and becomes a terrific hum along piece. Bass guitar rounds out the arrangement featuring multiple guitars: acoustic, nylon string and electric creating a lush sonic tapestry.

About Gareth Koch
Gareth Koch is an ARIA Award winning recording artist, guitar soloist, composer & songwriter. He has recorded a diverse repertory across multiple albums spanning works for classical guitar, flamenco, original compositions, arrangements, medieval projects & song writing.
Gareth is involved with many cross genre projects. Over recent years he has released two collaborative albums with ARIA Hall of Fame inductee Steve Kilbey (The Church).

All DSP’s and CD’s from official store below

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Daxton ‘On The Eve Of Christmas’

There is a good chance in any Christmas album you will hear the well known traditional songs about mistletoe, stockings and large jolly gentlemen in red suits. Many artists have been there but not all write their own songs. Daxton Monaghan has just released his own unique jazz style Xmas album for 2023.

After deciding last Christmas that there wasn’t an album of Christmas songs that suited him, Daxton has spent the past year slowly crafting a tasty array of melodic songs for his own special Christmas album. Entitled ‘On The Eve Of Christmas’, the nine tracks include some well-known and Daxton family favourites: White Christmas, Little Drummer Boy and of course, Jingle Bells. The rest of the album is made up of Daxton’s own songs. These compositions have been inspired by Daxton’s family Christmas gatherings. Bouncy rhythms, heart warming lyrics, sing along harmonies, strings, brass and Daxton’s familiar vocals all feature.

Let The Carols Sing
A classic sing along Xmas tune from bluesman Daxton. Some fine holiday vibes from the sax, beach boys style ‘ooh aah’ backing vocals and keys.

Little Drummer Boy
This timeless tune gets fine reworking by Daxton. Programmed drums and keys give the song a modern edge with Luke Gallen’s sax the icing on the cake.

About Daxton
Daxton has appeared at major festivals including the Sydney Blues & Roots and Tamworth Country Music Festival where he supported artists such as Kasey Chambers and Beccy Cole. He also has had one of his tracks ‘Moody Liz’ featured in the popular American TV series Doll House.

Based on the Central Coast, Daxton is best described as a blues/rock artist with a twist of pop and rock. He plays slide guitar rock/blues songs with a fresh and innovative sound. His last album, ‘Electric Satellite’ was released in 2022 and featured his signature heavy and rustic blues rock sound.

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Levi X Live at the Gallery

November 25, 2020 Marshall Cullen

Levi-X Live at The Gallery
Iconic Live Jazz Covers and an original with Levi’s startling voice

Release Date: November 20 (Foghorn/MGM) ALL Digital Platforms

At only 12 years old, Levi-X performs his first original composition “I Need to be Me”, in a live session set at the MerchWorx Galley Session. Recorded on Oct 17^th2020, the session lets listeners share Levi-X’s young passionate approach to music and cross over style between contemporary and easy jazz that is rarely seen in someone so young. Supported by piano, bass, drums, and guitar, he also brings an emotional take on John Hiatt’s “Have a little faith”, freely working with his fellow musicians to create the rich delivery of the song’s roots. He then picks up the saxophone on what can only be described as an extraordinary performance of Grover Washington’s “Winelight”.

I Need to Be Me – Levi-X
I Need to Be Meis Levi-X’s first song written wholly by himself, aged 12, lyrics and music. The magic of this song is not only the way the song melodically flows and sweeps its listeners into an emotional centre but is also about the strength and depth of the how the lyrics speak to people of all ages.

“To be the person I need to be….I need to be me”. A simple truism relevant to young and old, whatever your walk of life. Aim to be truthful to yourself – who you are – what you stand for. Then comes the matching counterbalance in the song – the recognition that to really be yourself, is never a path without failure, but it is a worthwhile goal to keep reaching for. “I know I’m trying again…I gotta get back up then.”

It sometimes takes a young mind to remind us that being real to ourselves is a struggle for all, not just youth. I Need to be Me, is a song that wholeheartedly delivers a message of compassion and encouragement to everyone.
Considering that “I Need to be Me” is Levi-X’s first debut into song writing, it is going to be very exciting to see where this Australian musician and performer takes us next.

Levi-X, live at the Gallery Sessions, is a fearless delivery of youthful talent on many levels that should not be overlooked.

Watch the Live Set Video Here

Levi X – Live at the Gallery is OUT NOW – via MGM

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Levi-X Releases Debut Single Amazing Grace (Grace Amazing)

October 30, 2020 Marshall Cullen

Levi-X is a young singer/saxophonist (12 yo), based in Queensland. Levi has been performing at several markets in North Brisbane with his father since he was 11 years old, entertaining crowds with his saxophone and singing. He plays all genres of music but has a style that is rooted in light Jazz improvisation. His debut song, Amazing Grace (Grace Amazing) was recorded when he was 12 years old and is the first of a number of songs he is working on.

Watch The Video

Amazing Grace (Grace Amazing) is a new interpretation of the well know traditional song, and digs into the song’s history and meaning with the rawness and innocence of the 12 year old singer, Levi-X. The songs uncomplicated composition aims to delicately remind us of the youthful simplicity where we start life; a place that we often seek to return to along the tumultuous journey that life often unknowingly takes us. Amazing Grace (Grace Amazing) is Levi-X’s debut song, which he worked on with his father, and is played with his older brother (aged 15) on guitar. Levi-X both sings and plays saxophone on this single. With his young voice soaring in all the right places and carrying the heartfelt lyrics with feeling beyond his years this is a beautiful rendition of the timeless classic.

Amazing Grace (Grace Amazing) is OUT NOW – via MGM

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Loren Evarts- Newest album Home Again

May 15, 2018 Marshall Cullen

Loren Evarts newest album Home Again

Home Again is the 6th original album, of this amazing contemporary pianist. It revisits several pieces previously recorded by Loren in the 1980’s, and eight new ones. It was produced by Grammy award winner Will Ackerman (Windham Hill Records) at his Imaginary Road studio in West River valley, Windham County, Vermont and was engineered by Tom Eaton.

Featuring Grammy-winning artists and Grammy-nominated Artists Eugene Friesen on cello (Paul Winter, Trio Globo), Rhonda Larson on many types of flutes (Paul Winter, Ventus) and Jeff Haynes on percussion (Pat Metheny, Pete Seeger), bassist Tony Levin (Peter Gabriel and King Crimson).

Besides Piano, Loren Evarts has been known to perform by singing, trombone, hammered dulcimer and organ.

Loren has performed professionally in the Connecticut area of USA in a variety of musical situations for over 40 years. He has been grateful to have been involved in performances with artists such as Dave Weckl (Chick Corea), Gerry Neiwood (Chuck Mangione), Everett Silver (Chuck Mangione), Mike Davis (Rolling Stones), Danny Stiles (Bill Watrous), Fred Vigdor (Average White Band), Rhonda Larson (Paul Winter Consort).

About Loren Evarts:

I was in first grade when I heard a fellow classmate play the piano, and I said, “Hey, I want to do that, too.” Of course, I had no idea that you had to practice, which made me think twice about my choice. But due to frequent beatings from my mom, I persisted, Partially kidding!

I started playing classical piano at age 7, but like a lot of kids, I started listening to pop radio in middle school. Fortunately, I was allowed to stick in a few popular tunes in my lessons along with the serious music. In high school I started to get influenced by jazz. My biggest influences were bands like Chicago and Tower of Power, Elton John, James Taylor, Carole King, Jazz singer Al Jarreau, and jazz pianists like Chick Corea, Herbie Hancock and Liz Story.

What can a crowd expect at a live show?

My music is probably best described as a mix of new age, jazz, classical and world. It’s piano-based but sometimes I will add a percussionist, bassist or woodwind player for concerts.

What are your future plans for 2018/2019?

Well, I am an American so, like many of my fellow citizens, I am looking to survive until 2020(enough on politics). But otherwise, At my stage of the game, I just want to put out a good product, and I hope to write some new material now that my newest album has been released. And that means I have to sit down at the piano and start! I am always gratified when people enjoy my music. I no longer crave being a big star. It’s nice being in this place.

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