Joe Marcinek Band - JMB4 (2021)

Versatile guitarist Joe Marcinek is preparing to release JMB4, his long-awaited fourth studio album recorded by an all-star band featuring himself, drummer Nikki Glaspie (The Nth Power), bassist Tony Hall (Dumpstaphunk), and keyboardist/organist Shaun Martin (Snarky Puppy). JMB4 arrives on digital platforms on Friday, May 28th.

In addition, JMB4 includes special guest appearances from a slew of talented friends including Eric Gales, Roosevelt Collier, Eric “Benny” Bloom (Lettuce), and Jason Hann (The String Cheese Incident).

The new album is Marcinek’s first since 2018’s JM3, on which he performed with a trio featuring Wil Blades and Terence Higgins. For the new record, he recruited an all-new crew of renowned musicians to round out the outfit.

As Marcinek explains, “All songs [on the album] were written during the pandemic. I knew I wanted my next album to be JMB4, but the [name] took on a bigger meaning once COVID hit. Thinking of it as JM BEFORE, or before the pandemic. Keeping the energy and spirit we used to have alive. … The album cover [depicts] the guitar or music growing from the concrete—breaking through to bring you what spirit we had before and to never lose it.”

To add a visual component to JMB4, Joe Marcinek worked with visual artist Yhali Ilan to create a piece of digital art to accompany each of the album’s tracks. Ilan recorded the process of drawing each piece on his computer, allowing viewers to watch the creative process for each work while listening to its sonic inspiration.