Marvin Ayres
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Marvin Ayres is a composer, cellist, pianist and violinist. Ayres has recorded a diverse selection of ambient and 'string design' albums, as well as produced a number of sensual jazz and film soundtracks that combine classical technique with free-form extemporization.
A founding member of The Government, Ayres also made solo contributions to bands and artists throughout the late 1980s and 1990s, notably, Culture Club, Simply Red, Frankie Goes to Hollywood, and Prefab Sprout. In 1999 he was signed to the avant-garde label Mille Plateaux as composer/producer, and released two ambient albums, Neptune and Cellosphere, to critical acclaim. Excerpts of these works have been performed live in an array of forums such as: London's 'Festival of Electonica,' (with Groove Armada`s Patrick Dawes) and the inter-media cutting edge event 'Sprawl'.
His reputation as producer and performer came to the attention of Jaki Liebezeit (ex CAN), who invited him to re-mix tracks and tour with Liebezeit's band Club off Chaos in early 2001. Ayres is currently commissioned by Einsturzende Neubauten's electronica music publishers Freibank, and his compositions have been featured on five of Freibank's 'For Films' albums.
In addition to his work with musicians, Ayres also collaborates with visual artists on audio/visual installations, which have been exhibited in major galleries and art houses in Europe and the U.S. In 2000, the prestigious ICA (Institute of Contemporary Arts) in London commissioned him to compose and produce their first ever DVD exhibition. The two works resulting from this were 'Sensory' and 'Cycle', incorporating spatial soundscapes and psycho acoustics and were composed specifically for 5.1 Surround Sound. Marvin Ayres` collaborative film 'Scape' is to this day a permanent fixture on exhibition at The Tate Modern.
His ongoing project with Sonja Kristina (ex Curved Air) is called Mask [1]
Their 2006 hit single 'Waking The Dream' came from their debut dual-disc album 'Heavy Petal'.