EPK

BIO

Origin: St. John's, Newfoundland & Labrador, Canada

Genre: Alternative Jazz

Years Active: 2013 - Present

Big Space is Canadian trio blending modern jazz/rock fusion and instrumental post rock. Since forming in 2013, the band has developed a unique sound combining intricate compositions with jazz improvisation and evocative soundscapes.

Guitarist Grant King, drummer Ashley Chalmers, and bassist Ian Murphy bring diverse backgrounds to the band, combining formal jazz training with years of experience in varied musical settings. Reflecting the cross-genre nature of their music, Big Space has performed at festivals and concert series spanning jazz, avant-garde, indie, metal and more.

In 2016, they released Live at the Levee, a compilation documenting the trio’s early improvisation-driven live shows, accompanied by performance videos for each track.

Their 2021 studio debut In Relation To won ECMA Jazz Recording of the Year, awarded to the best jazz album in Atlantic Canada. The album's unique alternative/jazz crossover style garnered praise from indie rock and jazz media in Canada and abroad.

Big Space is set to release their next album The Pendulum Effect on June 5, 2026. First single "The Watching" is available on all streaming platforms here.

MUSIC

PRESS HIGHLIGHTS

"In Relation To is a brilliantly original album with a free, improvised feel, but also with sections of intense complexity."

- Jazz Journal

"Big Space takes listeners on a dizzying jazz-rock journey that demonstrates the band’s technical chops and dynamic creativity"

- DOMINIONATED

"Equal parts technically impressive and refreshingly easy on the ears...the trio’s firm grasp of the songwriting process is consistently on display"

- The Whole Note

"This live-tracked record is an immensely enjoyable and well-balanced set of instrumental pieces."

- The East

"...a surprising journey into sonic worlds that skillfully mix rock, indie, jazz and funk"

- Jazz Espresso

"In Relation To takes the listener on a pretty awesome journey from start to finish."

- Heavy NFLD

EXTENDED BIO

Big Space is a genre-blending band that mixes jazz improvisation with rock instrumentation, incorporating the sounds of instrumental post-rock. Guitarist Grant King is a graduate of Berklee College of Music and the Longy School of Music, who also studied privately for years with legendary jazz educator Charlie Banacos. Bassist Ian Murphy is a longtime musical collaborator of Grant's, while drummer Ashley Chalmers also studied jazz at St. FX in Nova Scotia.

Formed in 2013, Big Space has performed festivals including Lawnya Vawnya, Sound Symposium, Music at Harbourside, Brokestfest, HeavyNFLD Fest, and Wreckhouse Jazz & Blues. They self-released a live album in 2016, Live at the Levee, which also included live videos for each song. In 2018 they filmed two live-in-studio performances for CBC Television's Parkway Sessions series.

In 2021 Big Space released their studio debut In Relation To. It was recorded live-in-studio with no overdubs to capture the interplay between the three musicians, and mastered by Nate Wood of the US jazz-fusion band Kneebody. In Relation To received praise from both jazz and alternative media in Canada and abroad, with the UK’s Jazz Journal praising it as “a brilliantly original album” and DOMINIONATED calling it “a dizzying jazz-rock journey”.

In Relation To won an ECMA award for Jazz Recording of the Year, awarded to the best jazz album in Atlantic Canada. In 2022, band was awarded the Gerry Porter Award for Creative Improvised Music at Sound Symposium XX. Big Space has also performed as a showcasing artist at MusicNL's Music Celebration Week.

From the band's beginning, improvisation has been a cornerstone of their sound. Through many live shows in the 10+ years they've been together Big Space has developed their own improvisational language and an ability to seemingly read each other's minds. Their energetic shows are propelled by technically impressive playing, imaginative improvisations, and immersive sound experiments.