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Jeff Martin (Canadian musician)

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Jeff Martin
Martin performing in 2015
Martin performing in 2015
Background information
Birth nameJeffrey Scott Brill
Born (1969-10-02) October 2, 1969 (age 55)
Windsor, Ontario, Canada
GenresRock, hard rock, world, blues, pop, folk
Occupation(s)Musician, songwriter, producer
Instrument(s)Vocals, guitar
Years active1990–present
LabelsKoch, Shock
Websitejeffmartinofficial.com

Jeffrey Scott Martin (né Brill; born October 2, 1969) is a Canadian guitarist and singer, best known for fronting the rock band The Tea Party. He began his career as a solo artist in 2005, when The Tea Party went on hiatus.

Biography

Early years

Martin began playing guitar as a child and in his adolescence played in bands The Shadows, Modern Movement, and The Stickmen. In 1988, Jeff graduated from Sandwich Secondary School along with future Tea Party bandmates Jeff Burrows and Stuart Chatwood. He went on to study music at the University of Windsor before leaving his studies prematurely due to philosophical differences with his music professor.

Martin has perfect pitch, as highlighted on "The Science of a Rock Concert", an episode of Daily Planet on Discovery Channel Canada.[citation needed] He also has synesthesia, as heard during an Alternate Tunings Guitar Workshop for Maton Guitars.[1]

Professional career

The Tea Party (1990–2005, 2011–present)

Forming The Tea Party in 1990 after a marathon jam session at the Cherry Beach Rehearsal Studios in Toronto, Martin produced all of The Tea Party's albums, including their debut album in 1991, distributing it through the band's own label, Eternal Discs. In 1993 The Tea Party signed to EMI Music Canada and released their first major-label recording entitled Splendor Solis. Martin employed open tunings to imitate Indian instruments such as the sitar, something he has continued to employ throughout his career. Further developing The Tea Party's sound in 1995, The Edges of Twilight was recorded with an array of Indian and Middle-eastern instrumentation while Martin drew lyrical inspiration from occult themes and pagan influenced literature.

Upon returning from tours in Canada, Europe and Australia in 1996, The Tea Party went on to record Alhambra, an Enhanced CD which features acoustic re-recordings of songs from The Edges of Twilight, followed by a brief tour around Canada known as "Alhambra acoustic and eclectic".

Transmission, filled with dark and angry music, was released in 1997; it included Martin's first foray into electronica. Triptych followed in 1999; the first single "Heaven Coming Down" rose to #1 on Canadian radio. Lyrically, Martin was less enigmatic than he was on previous albums: on Triptych he wrote about the experiences of his years in the band.

In 1999, Martin performed as part of The White Ribbon Concert at the Phoenix Concert Theatre in Toronto.[2] After releasing Tangents, a singles compilation, in 2000 and Illuminations, a DVD compilation of music videos which Martin remixed in Surround sound, The Tea Party released The Interzone Mantras in 2001 and Seven Circles in 2004.[3] In October 2005, The Tea Party disbanded due to creative differences.

The band members regrouped in 2011 for a series of shows in their native Canada. The success of these dates led to The Tea Party reforming.

Solo career (2005–2008)

Jeff Martin & the Armada, November 2008

Martin's debut solo album titled Exile and the Kingdom was released in Canada and Australia in 2006. Among those who worked with Martin were Michael Lee and Ritesh Das (Toronto Tabla Ensemble). The first single, titled "The World is Calling", is an open letter to the Bush administration.[4] During this time Martin was supposed to collaborate with Scott Stapp but it did not ensue. In November 2006, Martin released a live album recorded that September, titled Live in Brisbane 2006. The two-disc album features Ritesh Das and the Toronto Tabla Ensemble, and consists of both solo and Tea Party songs. The album is a complete recording of a live performance full of Jeff's banter with bandmates and the audience, including his thoughts on the disbanding of The Tea Party and where he sees himself in life. In May 2007, Martin released his second live album Live in Dublin recorded with drummer Wayne P. Sheehy, while Martin's first solo music DVD Live at the Enmore Theatre was released through Shock DVD in July 2007.

The Armada (2008–2010)

In early 2008 Martin (lead vocals, guitars) and Sheehy (drums) formed The Armada. The band's debut album, which features a similar sound to the Tea Party, was released on November 4, 2008.[5]

Jeff Martin 777 (2010–present)

In 2010, Martin began work on new music with Jay Cortez and Malcolm Clark (formerly of The Sleepy Jackson) for a new album to be entitled "The Ground Cries Out" under the new band name of Jeff Martin 777. On January 10, 2011, the title track from the album was released on Martin's Myspace page. The Ground Cries Out was released in Canada on March 1, 2011, and has subsequently been released in Australia.[6] Following a Jeff Martin 777 Canadian tour, the band toured Australia from May 2011. During the tour Martin announced a reunion of The Tea Party for some Canadian shows in July and August. Following the success of those shows, The Tea Party announced the reunion was permanent.

As a record producer

Martin was nominated as producer of the year at the 2000 Juno awards.[7] Martin has produced albums for Hundred Mile House's EP, The Jay Murphy Band's Propaganda, The Eternal's 'Under a New Sun' and Tenth Planet's The Prophet Curse EP. He also played upon Roy Harper's The Green Man. Martin recently produced the new album for Australian dark rock band The Eternal called 'Under A New Sun'. The album features a duet with singer Mark Kelson on the track 'The Sleeper'. Martin worked with emerging Australian band Lepers and Crooks to produce their debut album in 2016.

Martin's most recent work as a producer was with Australian indie-folk / rock duo Secret Solis. Jeff produced their debut EP, 'Deep Down' at River House Studios lending the band his instrumentation and voice as well. Martin plays all the heavy guitars, Hurdy Gurdy and synths including his Theremin.

Equipment

Jeff Martin & the Armada, 2008

Guitars

Effects

Amps

Discography

Studio albums

List of studio albums, with selected chart positions
Title Album details Peak chart
positions
AUS
[8]
Exile and the Kingdom
  • Released: April 11, 2006
  • Format: CD digital
  • Label: Koch Entertainment Canada, Shock Records
 44

Live albums

List of live albums
Title Album details
Live in Brisbane 2006
  • Released: November 2006
  • Format: 2×CD
Live in Dublin
  • Released: May 2007
  • Format: CD
Live at the Corner Hotel
  • Released: February 2008
  • Format: CD
Live & Acoustic
  • Released: 2016
  • Label: 93 Creative
  • Format: CD, digital

Video albums

List of video albums, with selected chart positions
Title Album details Peak chart
positions
AUS
Music DVD
[8]
Live at the Enmore Theatre
  • Released: July 2007
  • Format: CD, digital
  • Label: Shock Records
 32

Extended plays

List of EPs
Title EP details
The Palace Volume 1: Sub Rosa
  • Released: 2015[9]
  • Format: CD, digital
Stars in the Sand
  • Released: 2018[10]
  • Format: CD, digital
Cinnamon Rose
  • Released: 2020[11]
  • Format: CD, digital

See also

References

  1. ^ Maton Guitars (December 28, 2012), Jeff Martin On Alternate Tunings (Part 4 of 4), archived from the original on December 21, 2021, retrieved August 29, 2017
  2. ^ "Live Reviews: The White Ribbon Concert The Phoenix Concert Theatre, Toronto, Ontario". Chart Attack, June 8, 1999, by Mike McCann
  3. ^ Band biography: Illuminations The Tea Party Collection 2001, DVD, EMI Music Canada, Mississauga.
  4. ^ Bliss, K 2006, Jeff Martin in-studio session, Jam! Music. Jam! Music Archived June 23, 2007, at archive.today Accessed April 5, 2006.
  5. ^ News About The Armada.... Jeff Martin Archived December 31, 2007, at the Wayback Machine Accessed November 21, 2008.
  6. ^ The Tea Party's Jeff Martin Forms New Band .... [1] Archived November 20, 2010, at the Wayback Machine Accessed November 10, 2010.
  7. ^ Larry LeBlanc (February 12, 2000). "Morissette leads Canada's Juno nomination list". Billboard. Nielsen Business Media, Inc. pp. 45–. ISSN 0006-2510.
  8. ^ a b Ryan, Gavin (2011). Australia's Music Charts 1988–2010 (PDF ed.). Mt Martha, Victoria, Australia: Moonlight Publishing. p. 177.
  9. ^ "The Palace Volume 1: Sub Rosa". new once. Retrieved September 4, 2022.
  10. ^ "Music Review: Jeff Martin's Stars in The Sand". In Search of Rock Gods. September 2018. Retrieved September 4, 2022.
  11. ^ "Cinnamon Rose EP Signed Copy- Physical Compact Disc". Jeff Martin. Retrieved September 4, 2022.
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