STAND ABOVE THE STREAMS

Jason Sharp has emerged as one of Canada's most fascinating new music composers in recent
years. From his roots as a saxophonist in Montr al's fertile jazz and improv scene, Sharp
developed as a soloist with drone-based durational music, circular breathing, and an
increasing exploration of the body and technology. His impressive 2016 debut A Boat Upon
Its Blood is a roiling and musically diverse work of modern composition inspired by a Robert
Creeley poem, distinguished by Sharp's use of a heart monitor and amplified breath to trigger
various rhythmic and textural electronic elements - alongside his own saxophone playing and
contributions from guest players on violin and lap steel guitar.
Stand Above The Streams expands on this approach, with Sharp having further developed his
custom Midi and synthesis apparatuses, and most notably collaborating on these
compositions with Adam Basanta, whose renowned practice in sound art, sound installation
and autonomous sound systems makes for impressively immersive, layered and complex
new work. All sound sources on Stand Above The Streams originate with Sharp (with the
exception of violin from the album's co-producer and mixing engineer Jesse Zubot on one
song): bass and baritone saxophones, heartbeat, pulse, and breathing are played/processed
in real time through Sharp's own signal-bending synthesis rig and through Basanta's bespoke
'controlled feedback' amplification system. The album's rhythms are generated wholly from
Sharp's similarly controlled breathing and heart rate. The results are utterly gripping, with
melodic and micro-tonal elements flowing amidst waves of atmospheric pink and brown
noise, low-end modulation and calibrated distortion.