Aaron Martin

Aaron not only surprised many with his 2007 debut Almond but gained great notices worldwide. The album set him on a course of many collaborations, and has since worked with a diverse array of artists, including Machinefabriek, Dawn Smithson (Jessamine, Sunn O))) and Jasper TX. His second album, River Water, proved a darkly compelling turn and stands as a forebear to Chautauqua in its pursuit of a distillation of pure emotional range, poised at the meeting point of intensity, calm and resolution. Now, Chautauqua puts Aaron’s considerable talents and unique compositional vision at their most sharp and measured level yet. Concentrating on a core group of instruments – cello, banjo and organ – the pieces on Chautauqua are interwoven with field recordings as well as sounds from home movies, creating an edge tingling with a heightened, ghostly kind of nostalgia. Chautauqua is a poignant work, magnetic in its compulsion. (Label info)