TJ Martin brings to the table a unique first in the music world. He got there by being influenced from groups like ? and The Mysterians, to The Lovin’ Spoonful, Suzanne Vega, the Atlanta Rhythm Section, Enya and many others.
After hearing one of his songs on the local college radio station, a lady contacted him and asked if he would be interested in writing music for her horses. She was referring to the equestrian sport of dressage (rhymes with massage), where they perform freestyles set to music, known as musical kurs. This is now also an official Olympic level competition. When he first began the project, his intention was to improve the quality of music that was being used for the sport. His main focus was to eliminate the unnecessary and distracting sounds of bad editing, and the splicing together of various songs which creates a ride that has no theme. To do this, original music had to be written to match the choreography for each particular ride. He then set out to compose a piece of music for each of the varying levels of freestyles, and have riders perform them. The result was award winning freestyles and the world’s first CD of "Music for Dressage".
This is an album of powerful, acoustic, instrumental music in an adult contemporary, new age/smooth jazz style. Because of the easy listening sound, the music has since found its way to evenings with candlelight, glasses of merlot and your imagination. The album contains just over 40 minutes of music with 7 songs and a bonus track. People worldwide have been enjoying these mesmerizing sounds. Internet sales of this album continue to grow on a daily basis, in over 50 countries on 6 continents.
New Age Equestrian
TRAVERSE CITY, MI November 15, 2007 -- Whatever the genre--classical, rock, blues, country -- one thing all music has in common is the audience: human beings.
TJ Martin’s new CD is a bit different. ’The Judge at E’ is not only for people, but for horses. It is music for dressage (rhymes with massage).
Martin was a devotee of the sport which has been called equine ballet for the movements demanded of horse and rider. But one thing always bothered him: the clumsy segues between the pieces of music that were adapted for the event.
"I thought I could eliminate that by having original music", he said.
So that’s what he set out to do. With a 15 piece ensemble including saxophone, flute, trumpet, keyboards, percussion and his guitar, he composed seven pieces of music.
Not only were they meant for dressage, the pieces were composed specifically for individual riders and their mounts, though for the most part they could be adapted for others.
"The recording session was done very differently. TJ sat in front of a video (of the horse and rider performing) playing his guitar", said John Knight, owner of Full Circle Recording Studio where the project was recorded.
The pieces on ’The Judge at E’ run between five-and-a-half and six minutes, with the exception of a catchy 2-minute, 40 second tune called "Samson’s Prelude".
The music embraces many genres: there is gentle romanticism, sprightly folk, jazzy interludes, even some quasi-flamenco. It holds together surprisingly well as an instrumental, alternative new age/jazz disc.
