Mike Murray | "Horizon"

Horizon is the debut album from guitarist Mike Murray featuring Dan Klas on drums, Jack-James Lemaire on bass, and Giovanni Campanelli on keys, with guest appearances by Sean Mundy (harmonica, track 6) and Juan-Carlos Medrano (percussion, track 2). All of the music was composed and arranged by Mike Murray and showcases his wide musical knowledge and skill with the guitar, blending his own rock and jazz background with his experience in other styles including Bollywood, Middle Eastern music and much more. 

Originally planned to be recorded as a live-off-the-floor performance, the band performed only one show on March 10th, 2020 before Canada, and the world, was forced into lockdown. Unable to rehearse or record as planned, Murray and the band embraced the circumstances and shifted to a remote work model, with Murray producing the project himself and live-streaming all the production and guitar tracking sessions on Twitch. Mixed by Latin Grammy-winning engineer João Thire and mastered by Justin Gray at Immersive Mastering, the recording captures the power and energy of the band at their best. Rather than letting circumstance hold them back, Murray and the band have produced an album that is alive, energetic and a celebration of music and the guitar out of a time of deep uncertainty.  

Mike Murray is a Toronto-based guitarist, composer and music educator. Having experience in a wide variety of styles of music and guitar including jazz, classical, rock, fusion, musical theatre, and various world styles including Latin American/Andean folk, Bollywood music and Middle Eastern music, his own music is a celebration of that broad background and the potential of the guitar. Joined by drummer Dan Klas, bassist Jack-James Lemaire and keyboardist Giovanni Campanelli, Murray and his band bring a fierce energy to their performance while staying true to their influences. This energy is clear from the first notes of Horizon and is what pushes the music through the challenges of its creation process.