Jasun Martz
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Jasun Martz | |
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| Background information | |
| Birth name | Jason Martz |
| Born | 1953 |
| Origin | United States |
| Genre(s) | Contemporary classical, avant-garde, noise, rock, pop music |
| Occupation(s) | Record producer, composer, musician, artist, sculptor |
| Instrument(s) | Keyboards, percussion |
| Website | www.jasunmartz.com |
| Notable instrument(s) | |
| Mellotron and electronic instruments | |
Jasun Martz is an American record producer, composer, musician, fine artist and sculptor who has worked on several #1 best selling hit records but is probably best known for his contemporary classical symphonies. He has recorded with Michael Jackson, toured with Frank Zappa and helped arrange one of rock music's best selling hits: "We Built this City" by Starship.
Also a renowned New York based painter and sculptor Martz has lived in New York, Los Angeles and London and has created and exhibited "raw expressionist" paintings and papier-mâché sculpture inspired by the subway passengers he encounters in each city. He collaborated with French modern master Jean Dubuffet (the founder of art brut) on Martz’s critically acclaimed avant-garde/ contemporary classical symphony entitled The Pillory.
Martz began his music career at an early age, signing his first professional recording and publishing contract at the age of 15. An internationally known musician, composer and producer, he has recorded and toured with numerous celebrated entertainers. Millions have heard his recordings since he played synthesizers and keyboards for Michael Jackson on the quadruple platinum #1 hit Black or White which appears on five of Jackson’s CDs including Dangerous, HIStory and Number Ones and three video/DVDs. He has recorded and toured with Frank Zappa and the Japanese progressive rock group The Far East Family Band, and helped arrange Starship's #1 hit, We Built This City with Grammy award-winning producer Bill Bottrell. Bottrell has said Martz "...brought an immediacy and a rock & roll fire" to the Michael Jackson recordings. (Sound on Sound, August 2004).
In an interview in the New York Times in 2005, Martz said his music is sometimes very wild and not for the faint of heart. He composed and produced a contemporary classical symphony (his second) for the 115-member The Intercontinental Philharmonic Orchestra and Royal Choir. The Pillory/The Battle is a 2 CD set released in 2005 and 2007 and features 2 1/2 hours of Mr. Martz's music. Searching for musical inspiration, Martz climbed to the refugio on Ecuador's Mount Cotopaxi–the world’s tallest active volcano. When he descended the very steep slope, he tripped and began a tumble. Martz has said he then had an epiphany for the symphony. The music explores the Charles Darwin theory of evolution on the earth 200 million years into the future. It was reported in the New York Times that Mr. Martz said “after the tumble, a wild idea came to me of what the symphony should be.”
Mr. Martz conducted a 40-piece orchestra, the Neoteric Orchestra, in his critically acclaimed first avant-garde symphony The Pillory. The CD features members of Frank Zappa's band Ruth Underwood, Eddie Jobson, has received hundreds of international reviews and has often been called a contemporary masterpiece. Billboard Magazine reviewed The Pillory as a "Top Album Pick" and it was featured in Canadian director Francois Miron’s film Resolving Power (2001, FilmGrafix Studios, Montreal).
Mr. Martz has also composed for film and television.
Martz is also a well known New York based Creative Director in the beauty and fashion industries. He has created advertising campaigns for major brands such as Max Factor, Guess, Revlon, Proctor & Gamble, Redken, Neutrogena, Rembrandt and many others.
Also an inventor, Martz is the creator and owner of many trademarks, copyrights and patents. He was most recently awarded a United States patent (United States Patent 6270275) for his invention of a sponge storage and disinfecting device.
Jasun Martz studied at the University of California, Los Angeles; New York University; California State University, Northridge; Art Center College of Design and graduated with honors from the University of California, Santa Barbara with a Bachelors degree in the arts. He currently lives in New York.
[edit] Exhibition history
- Harlem Art Project (group) Saatchi & Saatchi New York City, New York December, 2003
- In Dim Light (solo) A five year retrospective SPA New York City, New York October 2002
- Oblivious (solo) Gallery @ 135 New York City, New York March 13 - April 1, 2001
- Under the Asphalt (solo) Siberia Gallery New York City, New York July 21 - August 20, 2000
- Faces in the Dark (solo) Sash Gallery Glen Ridge, New Jersey, September 7 - October 30, 1999
- About Face (group) Los Angeles Municipal Art Gallery Los Angeles, California July 10 - September 1, 1996
- Under (solo) LCA/LA Galleries Los Angeles, California 1994
- Underground (solo) LAM Gallery London, England 1986
[edit] Discography
- Sue Reed "Whose Hat Covers That Sundial?" (Under The Asphalt, 2007) producer, mellotron, drums, bass
- The Sin Circle (Under The Asphalt, 2007) producer, composer, musician
- Jasun Martz with The Intercontinental Philharmonic Orchestra and Royal Choir "The Pillory/The Battle" (Under The Asphalt, 2007, 2005) producer, composer, musician
- Jasun Martz with The Neoteric Orchestra "The Pillory" (Under The Asphalt, 2007) producer, composer, musician
- The Sin Circle "Freedom", "Alive and Lubricated" motion picture and soundtrack CD (Attack Filmworks, Canada, 2005) producer, composer, musician
- Michael Jackson "Number Ones" (Sony/Columbia, 2003) keyboards and synthesizers
- The Sin Circle "Freedom" (Attack Records, 2001) producer, composer, musician
- Michael Jackson "Dangerous remastered" (Sony/Columbia, 2001) keyboards and synthesizers
- Michael Jackson "Greatest Hits" (Sony/Columbia, 2001) keyboards and synthesizer
- Michael Jackson "The Short Films/DVD" (Sony/Columbia, 2001) keyboards and synthesizer
- Michael Jackson "Video Greatest Hits- History/DVD" (Sony/Columbia, 2001) keyboards and synthesizer
- The Sin Circle "Everyone's an Idiot" (Sin Circle, 1999) producer, composer, musician
- Michael Jackson "HIStory" (Sony/Columbia, 1995) keyboards and synthesizer
- Beck "A Western Harvest Field by Moonlight (Fingerpaint, 1994) art director
- Jasun Martz "The Pillory" (Ad Perpetuam Memoriam, 1994) producer, composer, musician
- Michael Jackson "Dangerous" (Sony/Columbia, 1991) keyboards and synthesizer
- Michael Jackson "Dangerous" Video (director: John Landis, 1991) implemental percussion, vocals
- Michael Jackson "Street Walker" (unreleased, 1990) harmonica
- Del Rubio Triplets "Three gals, Three Guitars" (Cabazon, 1988) art director
- The Starship "We Built This City On Rock and Roll" (RCA, 1985) co-arranger
- The Results (1984) bass, vocals
- Bone Cabal (Mystic Records, 1983) producer
- Jasun Martz/Eddie Jobson/John Luttrelle "in light, in dark in between"- The American Music Compilation (Eurock, 1982) producer, composer, piano
- Jasun "Won't let me go" (Neoteric Music, 1982) co-producer, composer, musician
- Jasun Martz and the Neoteric Orchestra "The Pillory" (Neoteric Music, 1981) producer, composer, musician
- The Far East Family Band "Live at the Troubadour" (RCA Victor Japan, 1979) keyboards, vocals, percussion
- Jasun Martz and the Neoteric Orchestra "The Pillory" (All Ears/ PBR International, 1978) producer, composer, musician
- Frank Zappa "Live in New York" (1977) synthesizer programmer, percussion & vocal overdubs
- American Zoo (Rena Records, 19??) drums, vocals
- We the People (Rena Records, 19??) drums, vocals
