Ben Marc Releases ‘Give Me Time’ feat. Judi Jackson (Innovative Leisure)
BEN MARC RELEASES ‘GIVE ME TIME’ VIA INNOVATIVE LEISURE,
FEATURING VOCALS FROM NEO-SOUL & JAZZ SINGER JUDI JACKSON
THE TRACK FOLLOWS RECENT SINGLE ‘WAY WE ARE’ AND HIS CRITICALLY ACCLAIMED ‘BREATHE SUITE’ EP
“Captivating and stylistically varied” The Guardian “Powerful meditation for traumatic times” NPR “The music swirls and floats past like a multi-coloured cloud” Stereogum “If, like us, you are infatuated with the smooth sounds of jazz, fast-rising multi-instrumentalist Ben Marc is the artist for you.” Wonderland
Already at the leading edge of the UK jazz scene, producer and multi-instrumentalist Ben Marc recently stepped into the spotlight with his lustrous and contemplative ‘Breathe Suite’ EP. Released in September and praised by the likes of NPR, The Wire and The Guardian, its sweeping strings, rippling piano and meditative vocals showed off Marc’s undeniable gift for composing and arranging. The EP and was nearly finished during lockdown when the death of George Floyd shook the world. As a result, Marc and vocalist Midnight Roba steered the release in a more contemplative direction, with the BLM ‘Breathe Suite B’ depicting struggle, panic and ultimately peace. Released earlier this month, ‘Way We Are’ offered a tantalising taster of what to expect from his upcoming full-length, muted for release in spring. Out today, new single ‘Give Me Time’s’ stuttering drum beat, off-kilter clapping, and lilting string arrangements provide the perfect backdrop for Judi Jackson’s urgent and haunting vocals. ‘Everyone needs more time. Time to heal!” he says.
Marc, the alias of Neil Charles, has quite the musical pedigree. He grew up splitting his time between Birmingham and Carriacou in the Caribbean: at school in the English city, he started taking classical music lessons aged 10. After touring the world in school orchestras, Marc moved to London to take classical double bass at the prestigious Trinity College of Music, where Fela Kuti once studied, under the tutelage of double bassist Chi-chi Nwanoku. It wasn’t until a chance meeting in Brixton with Gary Crosby, linchpin of Tomorrow’s Warriors – the crucial London jazz educators that connect the UK new wave luminaries, from Nubya Garcia to Moses Boyd – that the possibility of jazz shone like a beacon. It was the start of a game-changing journey that would see him play first with smart jazz group Empirical and then led him to forming the free-jazz trio Zed-U, alongside Shabaka Hutchings (Sons of Kemet, The Comet is Coming) and drummer Tom Skinner.
In his new music, Ben Marc has unified these influences into a sublime whole. Now signed to LA’s Innovative Leisure, he’s found a home alongside similarly future-thinking artists like Badbadnotgood, Nosaj Thing, Rarelyalways and Jimmy Edgar. ‘Way We Are’ is a sign of things to come from an artist clearly at the top of his game.