GIFTING A DREAMY, JAZZ-FUELLED INSTRUMENTAL WONDERLAND, THE BRAND NEW EP LIVE AT THE BARN FROM THE ED RUBEN TRIO IS AN IMMERSIVE AND NUANCED DELIGHT - AND IT'S PREMIERING RIGHT NOW ON THE SOUNDCHECK!
Starting life as a series of jam sessions between mates at BBQ hangouts, the Ed Ruben Trio found itself coming to fruition in full when the titular Ed Ruben realised the combination between himself on piano, Mitchell Hagger on drums and Casey Glennen on double bass helped him flesh out some ideas into proper songs. Initially concepts bubbling away for the past 4-5 years, the eventual compilation of Ruben's ideas into an EP of five stunning compositions came together with each member bringing their own flair and finesse into the end result.
Coming from an improvisational jazz background and cultivating a strong interest in minimalist piano music, Ruben ultimately found his sonic soulmates in Hagger and Glennen, with Live At The Barn offering an eclectic mix of jazz-influenced compositions across the space of five tracks and a chance for Ruben to showcase his passionate musical persuasions with the help of some equally talented musos, as Ruben himself explains:
"I wrote the songs on my piano over the past few years. When I bought them to the boys a couple of the songs were basically completed, but I still wanted to add the bass and drums to give it a full and more complete sound. The rest were just ideas, partial songs or sections of songs, nothing really constructed or arranged into song format. Just ideas stuck together. Sometimes I would just improvise parts in rehearsal and be like yep, that's this section now. The boys helped me arrange them with a set structure while adding their own unique touch on their instruments to create fully formed songs. Really, if it wasn't for these two the songs would most likely still be an unorganised mess of ideas in my head." - Ed Ruben
Bringing together a bustling range of influences and inspirations in a live setting, Live At The Barn captures the trio's dynamic rapport and startling musical prowess; from the lolling Hyrule and Johannalle, to the delightfully downcast Beales Song, there's staggering beauty at every turn on the trio's new EP, made all the more potent with the accompaniment of the trio filming footage of the live EP recording at a studio called (surprise!) "The Barn". Capturing not only the essence of the group's diverse skills, the live vision also captures some deeper insights and visual gems, as Ruben elaborates:
"The idea of recording this as a live studio performance was to capture that jazz setting of recording all together just doing a couple of takes and choosing the best one. I wanted to film it because I believe watching us play gives the listener more of an insight into the music. And I wanted to capture Mitch's many drum faces." - Ed Ruben
And thank goodness the lads captured the many visual facets along with the gorgeous tones, with pianist Ed Ruben recently moving to Finland - but with the hope that for his next visit back home to Australia he and the trio may be able to show off some of their musical endeavours to a home crowd. But in the meantime, you can grab a sneak peek of this divine EP ahead of its official release on Friday 15th December right now! Go check out Hyrule from Live At The Barn in all its sonic and visual glory below - and be sure to check out the EP this Sunday 15th December.
ED RUBEN TRIO - LIVE AT THE BARN
1. Hyrule
2. B'roke
3. Johannalle
4. Beales Song
5. We are all here
BY TIANA SPETER