RELEASES
BARTONE MUSICConnections
Tom Barton (voice & live looping+effects) & Diego Villalta (guitar)
(2015)
Barton and Villalta have made an album that contrasts a becalmed inner world with the chaos and beauty of the world that they see around them. That they have managed this in such a melodic and engrossing way suggests a greater constancy to jazz’s restless spirit than any number of aspirational takes on the ‘Great American Songbook’ … Highly recommended.
Barton and Villalta have certainly produced a work of contraries and anyone with an open mind and two receptive ears should welcome this brave, sensitive and not infrequently brilliant music.
Aspirations
Tom Barton (voice & live looping+effects)
feat. Stephen Magnusson (guitar), Philip Rex (acoustic bass), Andy Sugg (tenor & soprano saxophone), Joe O’Connor (piano), Pete Evans (drums) & Georgie Darvidis (voice).
(2015)
Nominated for Best Vocal Album – Bell Awards 2015
A breakthrough in leading-edge jazz vocals … This album heralds the arrival of a unique new talent in Australian jazz vocals. ★★★★☆
Electronic and acoustic thoughts merge and co-exist beautifully, improvisational elements are born around concrete expressions, and in the middle of it all sits Barton, putting his poetry in motion with beautifully clear-headed vocals.
It’s work that demands your attention, but in the most unassuming, refreshing manner possible. Barton’s mastery and marrying of so many genres really is a gift to behold.