Last week I had the pleasure of conducting the KUG Jazz Orchestra again.

I had already done it in 2022 but this time it was an original composition of mine, "In an unknown mood", a piece I wrote inspired by the idea of expatriation and all the good and bad that it implies.

Last Tuesday, March 28th, I had the pleasure and happiness of presenting live my new project, the Martin Iaies 10tet.

Like everyone, the pandemic and its restrictions made me change a lot. In the strictly musical aspect, the fact of not being able to play with people for a long time made me focus on composition. I always composed, long before even playing jazz, but always thinking that those compositions were to be played as soon as possible.
During the pandemic I was lucky enough to study online with Johannes Berauer, a tremendous Austrian composer and teacher. And during the continuity of the classes, Johannes was motivating me to write for larger ensembles than I was used to play, and even in formats where perhaps there was no guitar. In other words, to write music that I was not going to play, or at least not in the medium term.

The work done with Johannes I continued over the last year and a half with Ed Partyka, another incredible teacher, musician, composer and conductor. And last 28th I was able to premiere this group playing a set of 7 compositions combining original compositions and arrangements of Argentine standards and folk music.

The group is completed by:
Jonathan Herrgesell: alto and soprano saxophones and clarinet.
Klara Lavriša: alto and soprano saxophones and clarinet
Tobias Hoffmann: tenor saxophone and clarinet
Miloš Kostár: baritone saxophone and bass clarinet
Kaan Karadavut: trumpet and flugelhorn
Matthias Bernsteiner: trombone
Thomas Quendler: piano
Jernej Vindšnurer: double bass
Andreas Reisenhofer: drums

Next Wednesday, December 7 we will be playing at Miles Jazz Bar with my 4tet: Jonathan Herrgesell on alto and soprano saxophones, Miloš Čolović on double bass and Andreas Reisenhofer on drums.

It will be the first concert of the group in several months, and maybe the last for another several months, already thinking about the presentation of the album we recorded in May and will be released next fall.

I hope you can come along, the band is on fire!

In June 2021 I was lucky enough to be invited by Asier Ardaiz to record his debut album.
Asier is a virtuoso Spanish trumpet player whom I met in 2019 during my studies in Graz and whom I am lucky to count as one of the great friends that music gave me.

This album was released on all platforms in the last few weeks and is an album worth listening to. Asier arranged 8 Anime songs (Japanese music from animated series) for jazz combo, in different styles and instrumentations.

The album is titled "HERE" and you can listen to it at the following link:

https://open.spotify.com/album/7ymQgcM4QxXRZlqwco5ujv?si=7YLXZ0kLToe3QbpUN4d7_g
 

1. Rush
2. Here
3. Adieu
4. Isabella´s Lullaby
5. Glassy Sky
6. Fukashigi no carte
7. Tonari no Totoro
8. Presence - Yuujin A

Asier Ardaiz: trumpet, flugelhorn & cornet / arrangements
Miriam Kulmer: vocals
Jonathan Herrgesell: alto sax & clarinet
Wesley Rubim: trombone
Martin Iaies: electric and acoustic guitar
Markus Neuwirth: piano
Kajetan Kamenjasevic: doublebass
Sebastian Baumgartner: drums

Recorded by Leon Merkel at KUG Studio (Graz, Austria) in June 2021

Next Friday November 11th we will be playing at Cafe Kaiserfeld with this new international quartet composed by Jesse Vilhomaa (alto sax), Jernej Vindšnurer (double bass), Gloria Handler (drums) and me on guitar.

We will be playing some of my and Jernej's compositions as well as some arrangements on standards brought by Jesse.

We hope you can come!

Hey!!

I´ve just posted on my Bandcamp site (http://martiniaies.bandcamp.com) the EP of the session we did in March 2019 with my friends and amazing musicians Julian Mekler (doublebass) and Martin Freiberg (drums) a few months before I came to Austria.

"SUMMER TRIO" consists in 4 original tunes of mine plus an arrangement of The Beatles´s Classic "Blackbird", a tune I really love.

The original idea were some summer jams for playing standards with Marto and Juli, whom I used to play with, but finally I got encouraged to write some music with the guitar in the main role unlike my previos projects where the saxophone was leading with the themes. As the music was flowing good and there was a good chemistry in the rehearsal room we decided to get into the studio for a short session, for having a register of that music.

By recommendation of Martin, we went to Panacea Studio were Santiago Iezzi was working as recording engineer. The result is this 5 tunes EP which is available in Bandcamp from July 2nd and will be in the other streaming platforms soon.

You can listen it here: https://martiniaies.bandcamp.com/album/summer-trio

Also some videos:

Hi guys!

Today I want to share a transcription I was working on it until a few weeks ago. It's Jesse van Ruller's solo on his own tune "Secret Champ". He recorded this tune in different albums, I did it over the one that's included in Circles (Criss Cross, 2003). By the way, is a really interesting album, featuring Seamus Blake (tenor sax), Sam Yahel (organ) and Bill Stewart (drums).

I first came up with a transcription of the theme that a friend showed me. It's a challenging one for the guitar, so then I decide to get into the solo.
The changes are quite simple, kind of I-VI-II-V with dominant chords (#9 or #5 mostly). Actually, he doesn't sound really worry about the changes as he sound more pentatonic and focusing in some interesting resolutions to the I chord.

Some interesting resources to check:
    -   Lots of Db triads over the G7 chord (bars 6, 18, etc)

    -   Rhythm displacements ( 3 over 4, bars 19-22)

    -   Melodic sequences (bars 28-30 and 84-86, as good examples)

Anyway, I'm more interested in the overview of the solo.

    - Register: from the F# in 2nd fret of the 6th string to the G in the 15th fret of the 1st string (in several moments). A typical problem of guitar solos is that we use to stay in the same zone of the guitar, usually the mid-register, and when we decide to take more extended phrases, they are usually long arpeggios, sometimes out of context. But in this case, Jesse uses the whole register of the guitar, going from the bottom to the top in a very melodic way, and taking advantage of long phrases.

    - Language: there are no licks and there are almost any cliches but you can even notice that lot of the phrases come from the Bop ideas. The difference is that they sound quite more modern, as they are changing the starting tones, the resolution tones, the approaches, and also putting some tensions or disonances in the strong beats of the bar. I think Kurt Rosenwinkel is also a really good example of this point, you can check most of his solos in the album "Intuit".

    - Speed / Phrasing / Relax: it's a challenging solo even when there are not lots of challenging phrases, and most of them sound really melodic, so it's easy for the ear to get it by heart. But it's amazing how he plays it, the relax he has and the importance that every single note's phrasing.

Below you can find the .jpg transcription.

Please feel free to comment, ask or reply my ideas. I'll be happy to have your feedback and maybe discover new interesting things of this solo.

Welcome to my website!

Hope you´ve enjoyed my music. I will use this section for stay connected with all of you, posting not only news or gigs but also some ideas, concepts or thoughts about music and life.

I encourage you to be part of it, suggesting topics, asking any kind of things, or jus giving feedback.

Welcome on board!