Brian Eaton - The Known Space Project (2021)

The Known Space Project, by Brian Eaton, features bass guitar as the lead instrument for much of the instrumental album including the proggy, upbeat “Four String Theory,” in which all the tracks for the entire song (including the drum/percussion sounds) were created using bass, making it quite unique.

Brian Eaton will release his third full-length album, The Known Space Project, on Friday, September 17. Though a bit of a departure from his usual vocal rock sound, Eaton is no stranger to jazz/fusion. The new instrumental album consists of nine original compositions showcasing the multi-instrumentalist’s diversity as a multi-genre artist.

Fans can pre-order on iTunes and Bandcamp (in Hi-Res), and pre-save on Spotify to stream/download upon its release at: smarturl.it/Eaton

Eaton’s new project is an eclectic expanse of ethereal atmospheres and fields of magnetic, lyrical melodies orbiting a core of contemporary jazz and prog idioms. Listeners will find elements of jazz, prog rock, nu-jazz, world, R&B, ambient big spaces, and soundtrack vibes within the record. The opening track, “Trans-Neptunian Dust,” features hypnotic, harmonizing horns with an infectious, smooth, jazzy groove, while “Superheavy Metals of Ceres” rocks with saturated guitars and keyboards trading solos over a syncopated, weighty rhythm section. The latter features Eaton’s brother, Bill, on lead guitar, who’s played with former Guns N’ Roses guitarist Gilby Clarke.

The ballads, like the captivating “Alone on Top of Ahuna Mons” and the majestically optimistic “Jovian Empyrean,” with its ever-rotating key signatures, revolve around piano and strings and feature electric bass guitar performing lyrical melodies. In fact, the bass is the featured lead instrument for much of the album including the proggy, upbeat “Four String Theory,” in which all the tracks for the entire song (including the drum/percussion sounds) were created using bass guitar making it quite unique.

Regarding the inspiration for The Known Space Project, Eaton comments, “I had begun an appreciation for jazz and fusion at a very early age, and I fell in love with Jaco’s expressive bass sound the moment I first heard it as a kid in the ‘70s on Metheny’s Bright Size Life. It just seemed natural for me to gravitate to the bass guitar’s potential energy when it came to lead instrument selection for this project.”

The overall sound of the album was shaped using a Grammy Award-winning engineered recording from a sophisticated and successful jazz-rock band as its reference. And employing techniques from famed mastering engineer Bob Katz to achieve a wide dynamic range, depth, and dimension with minimal use of compression. The result is a recording with excellent transient clarity and dynamics that sounds clear, sharp, and open.

Currently based in Portland, Eaton started his music career in Chicago studying music theory, composition and jazz piano in college. After college, he opened a recording studio and indie label, Eatin’ Records, producing and recording scores of artists including jazz saxophonist Frank Catalano, Usurper, Cuttlass, Dave Uhrich, Eaton’s band North, and T.D. Clark (Dee Snider guitarist) who toured with Bad Company and Ted Nugent while promoting his debut Eatin’ release. Eaton has also played in several original bands throughout the 90s and early 2000s and produced several tracks of the Original Motion Picture Soundtrack for Carnivore. Kelly Simms of the Illinois Entertainer called Eaton, “a multi-talented, multi-instrumentalist with multi-tasking abilities,” and radio host/DJ Tim Lamping proclaimed, “Brian Eaton is a one in a million solo artist, producer and music arranger.”