"Marc's Replace the Population turns the act of playing into an experimental listening experience for the listener. Marc stands out for his bold, experimental approach to the instrument and his latest album feels like an exploration of the mechanics of breath, mouth, and lips.

There's no melody nor rhythm found in the ten tracks, and the album's experimental noise asks for an experimental mode of listening. As John Cage once observed, "there is no such thing as an empty space or an empty time. There is always something to see, something to hear." Marc certainly gives his listeners something to hear and, if the listener is willing, to rethink about hearing itself.

Marc's album unfolds as a series of free improvisational performances, animating the sonic possibilities of buzzing, flutter tonguing, piercing blats, and near-whisper tones. Across its ten tracks, there is a slowness and at times, I felt I could almost "listen" to Marc's tongue, lips, and breath as they considered what to do next. A pessimistic listener might hear this as a lack of intentionality, while an optimistic one might argue that Marc's willingness to expose this process is precisely the point. He's inviting us into the thought and mouth processes that precede "music" as we usually define it.

Marc cites a formative encounter with Mississippi's Wadada Leo Smith, one of the most visionary figures in avant-garde jazz, who once said, "everyone thinks the trumpet is made out of brass - it's really made out of air." Marc frames Replace the Population as his own exploration of this idea, and indeed, the album is steeped in the physicality of breath itself.

Marc's non-idiomatic approach to the trumpet-breath relationship is challenging yet refreshing. I would be eager to hear how fellow admirers of free improvisation feel this album might contribute to the ongoing evolution of the genre."-Evan Mitchell Schares, Dusted Magazine

"I had the privilege of meeting Wadada Leo Smith after a show, 'Everyone thinks the trumpet is made out of brass - it's really made out of air.' This recording is my exploration of that concept."-Lemuel Marc