2019 Round-Up
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Three videos made for You Tube |
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Then & Now - Recording Sessions
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17/12/19 - Then & Now - Officially Released - available on iTunes, Apple Music, Spotify, Amazon and CD:
See Albums for all the details.
02/12/19 - Then & Now:
Kevin has mixed & mastered the finished EP and he sent the files over and produced two master copies on CD. I got a limited (50) production run on CD, as I still like the idea of having a physical copy. I collected these on 12/12/19. See Albums to view the finished CD artwork.
22/11/19 - Then & Now - Session 7:
Simon completed the final recording with a great sax part for 'Stories to be told'. It's now over to Kevin for mixing and mastering. I'm really happy with the recordings and the fab contributions from Kevin, Heather, Simon and John. Looking forward to hearing the final mixes.
20/11/19 - Then & Now - Session 6:
Kevin had imported John's electric guitar parts for 'Stories to be told' and Heather was in to do a BV on the fast part of the song and on 'Chocolate'.
06/11/19 - Then & Now - Session 5:
Sketched out 'Chocolate' on electric guitar and added a guide vocal - Kevin will work on drum and bass. Heather redid the BV for 'Stories to be told', which now just leaves John's electric guitar & Simon's sax parts to complete the song.
22/10/19 - Then & Now - Session 4:
Completed vocals for 'Cry' and 'Simple message'. I've got to write the new song, 'Chocolate' and then return to record it. John is working on a rock guitar part in France for 'Stories to be told' and Simon will be doing a sax part on the same song.
18/10/19 - Then & Now - Session 3:
Listened to latest mixes - Kevin had done a lot of great work on all three songs. I then did the vocal for 'Stories to be told' and will return next week to do the other two vocals.
13/10/19 - Then & Now - Session 2: with Heather and Simon -
I'd written a new song yesterday, 'Simple message'. We laid down the basic guitar track with guide vocal. Heather came in to do a vocal part on 'Stories to be told' and Simon was in do a cool sax part on 'Cry'. A really productive session.
04/10/19 - Then & Now - Session 1: 4-song EP - Back in the recording studio -
I’m back at Eastriver Studio with Kevin Jones. I hope to make another full album of new material next year, but before then to satisfy my craving for studio time, I’m going to revisit two of my old songs and write two new numbers. And then with help from various music friends, hopefully, we’ll find a fresh and interesting interpretation for the old songs and a cool sound for the new numbers.
We spent the first session sketching out and recording the basic acoustic guitar track for 'Cry' and 'Stories to be told'. It’s great fun and I get a real buzz being back in the studio and in front of the mic and with the cans on.
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24/11/19 - 102 songs - live video:
Having completed the mission to play all 100 of my songs live in 2019 on 17/09/19,
I wrote a new song, 'Simple message' on 12/10/19 and gave it a first live performance at the Six Bells on 15/10/19 and then wrote a song called, ‘Chocolate’ on 6/11/19. I recorded 'Chocolate' and used an instrumental version of the recording as a backing track and gave it a live vocal performance at the Bay Hotel on 21/11/19. Both songs will feature on my new EP, Then & Now, which I'm currently recording.
Each live performance was captured with a photo - here’s a little video showing the performances and listing all 102 songs. A big thanks to everyone who helped out and especially Heather, who provided most of the photos. x
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14/11/19 - Reflection:
I filmed Heather performing her lovely arrangement of a piece of orchestrated piano music which I wrote in memory of my Nan, who passed away on 10/05/90. The original version was recorded on 23/04/92 with help from Lynton Naiff. Click to find out more about the original version.
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10/10/19 - My music is now available on Spotify & Amazon, along with iTunes and Apple Music.
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17/09/19 - 100 song live performance mission completed
At the beginning of the year I set myself a target to play a live version of each of my original compositions. I had exactly 100 songs to perform - they have all been recorded and are listed on my PRS account. The first part of the mission was quite easy, revisiting each song and thinking back to when it was composed and reflecting on the meaning and original arrangement. This was an enjoyable exercise in nostalgia. As I worked my way through the songs, I got to the point where some were pretty tough to do, as one man and an acoustic guitar. I battled on and completed the mission at the Six Bells 17/09/19 with Heather playing her fab piano arrangement of my orchestrated instrumental, 'Reflection'.
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13/04/19 - The Unknown Soldier
Inspired by real people and real events
- Read by Matthew Martin
- Recorded by Kevin Jones
- Produced by C J Martin
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03/04/19 - Nostalgia: Black magic woman
I was having a bit of fun at the Wheatsheaf last week with an ensemble line-up helping me out with my songs. Later in the evening they had a go at 'Black magic woman'. And, the other day I watched a documentary on Peter Green and it talked about a night when under the influence of much acid he played Black magic woman for 4-hours at the Fillmore East! All this got me thinking and I dug out an old C120 audio cassette and found a version of said song played by my band Live Evil, back in 1977 (42-years ago!!!). I'm amazed the cassette still functioned, so I transferred it to digital and knocked up a quick video to keep it company. We were teenage boys back then and it gave me a big smile listening to all the chat between songs. Our version is more Santana influenced and John's lead sounds great - oh and I'm on bass. x
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01/04/19 - C J Martin Audio Productions
I went into the studio on 06/03/19 and recorded a couple of short stories written by Bracken Martyn.
This is a new project and I've given it its own page on this website, along with its own You Tube channel. I posted up 'The Billionaire's Dream' on 11/03/19 and will be adding the second story (The Unkown Soldier) soon, which is longer and has both added music and sound effects.
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11/03/19 - The Billionaire's Dream
Inspired by the 2016 US presidential election
- Read by Matthew Martin
- Recorded by Kevin Jones
- Produced by C J Martin
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24/03/19 - Playing live in 2019: The live mission has been going well - I reached 47 songs before I repeated one (Toast for one). And then needed to focus on entertaining at Punnetts Town. I will get back on track and am enjoying revisiting old and obscure (songs that I never play). Here's a couple of live performances from the Six Bells.
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28/02/19 - Something different: I am going to record a couple of my short stories and turn them into audio plays. Matt (my son) has agreed to read them and I'll be using bits of my own music and sound effects.
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31/01/19 - Playing live in 2019: I've set myself a mission to play all, or as many of my songs live and also to not repeat any. By the end of January I'd played 15.
01/01/19 - Looking back & looking forward: 2018 was a great year, culminating with the release of Journey Part 1 in October and the production of five videos featuring songs from the album. I'm currently working on two more videos featuring the songs, 'Shining knight' and 'Wreckage'. I've got no specific plans after that, but ideas and opportunities normally present themselves - so, watch this space.
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2019 Diary: 2024 - 2023 - 2022 - 2021 - 2020
2019 - 2018 - 2017 - 2016 - 2015 - 2014 - 2013 - 2012
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