Dmitri Matheny
Encyclopedia
Dmitri Matheny is an American jazz
flugelhornist, composer, educator, producer and recording artist. Matheny, as a performer, is known for his lyrical style and warm tone.
and Tucson, Arizona
. He began playing piano at age 5 and switched to trumpet at age 9 while at the Brookstone School
in Columbus. At age 12, his family relocated to Tucson, where he played in his school band program. He led his first group at 16 and received funding from the Tucson Jazz Society to continue his studies. In 1983-84 Matheny attended the Interlochen Arts Academy in Michigan and, from 1984–89, Berklee College of Music
in Boston.
Matheny performed regularly in the Boston area in 1987-88 with the True Colors Big Band, led by composer Ken Schaphorst
, and in 1988 with the non-profit Jazz Composers Alliance. From 1985-89 Matheny led the New Voice Jazz Sextet, a band which included at different times saxophonists Mark Gross
, Antonio Hart
, bassist Peter Herbert
and drummer Hans Schuman, founder of JazzReach.
Matheny began his career playing trumpet, studying for a time with noted New York brass teacher Carmine Caruso, but in the late 1980s began focusing on the flugelhorn as his primary instrument. Matheny began studying with jazz flugelhornist Art Farmer in 1988.
Matheny's annual home season of concerts were fixture of the Bay Area jazz scene while he lived there. The year 2000 was a typical home season, in which Matheny shared the stage with the Del Sol String Quartet, pianist Amina Figarova, and vocalist Ann Dyer and hosting a benefit performance at Yoshi’s for the University of California, Berkeley-based Young Musicians Program, entitled "Diva Night: International Sirens of Song" and featuring Figarova, vocalist Kim Nalley
and Claudia Villela performing with the Dmitri Matheny Orchestra.
Notable musicians with whom Matheny has worked are Frankie Avalon
, Larry Coryell
, Nathan Davis
, Fabian
, Amina Figarova
, Tommy Flanagan
, the Four Tops, Wycliffe Gordon
, Darrell Grant, Larry Grenadier
, John Handy
, Billy Higgins
, Red Holloway
, Denise Jannah
, James Moody
, The O'Jays
, Sandy Patty, Jean Louis Rassinfosse, Margo Reed, Tony Reedus
, Martha Reeves
, Sam Rivers
, Max Roach
, Dennis Rowland
, the Rosenberg Trio, Bobby Rydell
, Bud Shank
, Sonny Simmons
, Mary Stallings
, Akira Tana, Billy Taylor
, the Temptations
, Bobby Watson
and Paula West
.
Dmitri Matheny performs regularly at clubs throughout the United States and Europe. Notable Bay Area clubs in which Matheny has performed include Yoshi's, Cafe Du Nord, and the Kuumbwa Jazz Center in Santa Cruz.
Festival appearances are also a significant part of his performance schedule. Among Matheny's many festival appearances are the American Broadway Music Festival (1999), Berkeley Jazz Festival (1999), Big Sur Jazz Festival (1997), Black Magic Woman Festival, Netherlands (2002), Britt Festival
(2001), Caspian Jazz & Blues Festival, Azerbaijan (2002), Chandler Jazz Festival http://www.chandleraz.gov/default.aspx?pageid=160 (2010), Festival of New American Music (2000), Jakarta International Festival, Indonesia (2001), Jazz on the Hill Festival (1998), Krakow International Festival, Poland (1996), Left Coast Jazz Festival (1997), Mexicali Jazz Festival, Mexico (2002), Monterey Jazz Festival
(1989, 1996, 1999, 2004), North Beach Jazz Festival (2000, 2001), Oregon Coast Music Festival (2001), Pacifica Jazz Festival (1999), Paradise Valley Jazz Party (2010), Redlands Bowl
Summer Music Festival (2002, 2010), San Francisco Jazz Festival
(1997, 1998, 2004, 2005), San Jose Jazz Festival
(2000), Santa Cruz Jazz Festival (1997), Stanford Jazz Festival (1997, 1998, 1999), Stern Grove Festival
(1999), Tamaya Jazz Festival (2002), Taos Jazz Festival (2002), Telluride Jazz Celebration
(1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2010) and Thelonious Monk Institute Colony at Jazz Aspen Snowmass (1997, 1998, 1999).
Matheny performed as guest jazz soloist with the Dallas Symphony Orchestra
on November 21, 1998 and the San Francisco Symphony
on March 17, 2001. Matheny has also worked with the San Francisco Symphony's "Adventures in Music" program.
and Alan Jones, and percussionist Ian Dogole. A CD release concert for Red Reflections took place at Carnegie Hall
's Weill Recital Hall in February 1996.
The following year Matheny released his second recording, Penumbra: The Moon Sessions. The CD used the moon as a theme and inspiration and featured saxophonist Dave Ellis, guitarist John Heller, bassist Bill Douglass, drummer Kenny Wollesen
and accordionist Rob Burger. Penumbra, produced by noted jazz producer Orrin Keepnews
, was named one of the 10 Best Jazz Recordings of 1996 by JazzIz Magazine. The San Francisco Bay Guardian
called Penumbra the Best Jazz Recording of 1996.
Matheny's third recording for Monarch Records, Starlight Café, recorded live at the JazzSchool in Berkeley, California with a pared down lineup of pianist Darrell Grant and bassist Bill Douglass, was released in 1998. Starlight Café was named one of the Top 10 Jazz Recordings of the Year by the Oakland Tribune. Matheny and Grant played a Starlight Café release concert at Weill Recital Hall in October 1998.
, accordionist Rob Burger, French horn player Mark Taylor, tenor and soprano saxophonist Kenny Brooks, guitarists Brad Buethe and Benjamin Rodefer, pianists Darrell Grant and Bill Bell, bassists Ruth Davies, and drummers Jason Lewis and Eddie Marshall.
Matheny's 2005 release, Nocturne, in some ways echoed the tone and settings of 1997's Penumbra. Andrew Gilbert, writing for The San Diego Union-Tribune
, said of Nocturne, "Matheny draws on the European classical tradition of night-inspired musical settings, from Mozart and Schumann to Chopin and Debussy ... the pieces are mostly composed ... Starting with "Twilight," the album moves through a 12-movement cycle that concludes with the gentle "Awakening". The CD, Matheny's second Papillon recording, featured guitarist Brad Buethe, bassist Ruth Davies, percussionist Deszon X. Claiborne, violinists Jeremy Cohen and Sarah Knutson, violist Emily Onderdonk, cellist Marika Hughes, saxophonist Charles McNeal, harpist Karon Gottlieb and Bart Platteau on shakuhachi
.
The Snowcat, Matheny’s third recording for Papillon records, is a secular holiday offering. The work is based on the ancient Asian parable of "the Oxherder," in which a herdboy's quest to find his missing ox is likened to an individual's journey through life. Indian in origin, the parable became popular in medieval Japan and was depicted on 13th century handscrolls as the "Ten Oxherding Songs" or Ten Oxherding Pictures
. The scrolls traditionally divide the hero's journey into ten stages each illustrated by a circularly framed image and a simple verse. Rendered in the graphic style of Japanese narrative illustration, the story format is as simple as a modern day comic or coloring book. In Matheny’s version of the tale, the hero is changed from a boy to a girl and her companion is not an ox, but a cat. Matheny serves as storyteller as well as flugelhornist on the recording. Also performing on the recordings are vocalist Zoe Ellis, saxophonist Charles McNeal, guitarist Brad Buethe, bassist Ruth Davies, and drummer Deszon X. Claiborne.
Spirito Sanctu: The New Millennium Mass is a seventeen-movement liturgical work, commissioned as part of San Francisco’s millennial New Year's Eve celebration. The composition received its world premiere at San Francisco’s St. Dominic’s Catholic Church
precisely at midnight on December 31, 1999. The premiere performance was recorded live at its premiere and released on Papillon Records in 2007. Spirito Sanctu was scored for chorus, organ, percussion, brass quintet, jazz ensemble and gospel soloist, the Mass was conducted by Dr. David Schofield David Schofield. Among the performers featured were vocalist Clairdee, keyboardist Matthew Clark, bassist Ruth Davies, percussionist Curt Moore, the San Francisco Brass, and the St. Dominic’s Choir.
In 2008, Papillon Records released The Best of Dmitri Matheny, a compilation of tracks that had appeared previously in his discography, save one: a brief jump style arrangement of "Take Me Out to the Ball Game
."
Matheny's most recent Papillon release is Grant & Matheny with pianist Darrell Grant. The CD is the first commercial release by the duo, who have performed together extensively since 1998. The recording, which features a range of music from Vincent Youmans
' "Without a Song" to Thelonious Monk
's "Think of One" to Keith Jarrett
's "Country" to original works by the duo, was released in 2010 on Papillon Records.
(2003), starring Gabriel Byrne
, Jamie Foxx
, Melanie Griffith
and Sylvester Stallone
.
Matheny's other film scoring and soundtrack credits include the documentary Mary, Paradox & Grace (PBS, 1996), the industrial short film Greenhorn Creek (1997), the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art
production Voices & Images of California Art (1997). Matheny also contributed music for the Cannes Film Festival
premiere of "Stanley's Girlfriend," a short from the horror anthology Trapped Ashes (2006).
in the late 1980s, Matheny had developed a close relationship with the noted jazz musician and fellow Arizonan. In 1997, Matheny served as Executive Producer of Farmer's recording, Live at the Stanford Jazz Workshop. He also wrote the liner notes for the critically well-received CD.
. As a member of her Amina Figarova International Band Matheny performed in Europe, Asia and North America between 1998 and 2006. Matheny's most frequent collaborator is pianist Darrell Grant. The two have performed together on numerous occasions and in a variety of settings, from classrooms to the Monterey Jazz Festival as the duo Grant & Matheny.
, Chabot Space and Science Center
, and the Stanford Jazz Workshop
. He has also served as Director of Education for SFJAZZ, as Assistant Education Director for the Thelonious Monk Institute Jazz Colony at Jazz Aspen Snowmass, and as Artist-In-Residence for the Siskiyou Institute of Ashland and the Young Musicians Program of the University of California, Berkeley
.
Critics Poll. In 1999, Matheny was named a Best New Artist by JazzIz Magazine, along with pianist Brad Mehldau
, vibraphonist Stefon Harris
, and saxophonist Ravi Coltrane
. Matheny was named one of the Bay Area Best by the San Francisco Examiner Magazine in 1997, 1998, and 2000. Also in 2000, Matheny was recognized for Outstanding Service to Jazz Education by the International Association for Jazz Education.
Matheny has received commissions and premieres from Meet the Composer
, the Manhattan New Music Project, the American Society of Composers Authors and Publishers, the Bay Area Jazz Composers Orchestra and 20th Century Forum.
With Various Artists
Jazz
Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...
flugelhornist, composer, educator, producer and recording artist. Matheny, as a performer, is known for his lyrical style and warm tone.
Early career
Matheny was raised in Columbus, GeorgiaColumbus, Georgia
Columbus is a city in and the county seat of Muscogee County, Georgia, United States, with which it is consolidated. As of the 2010 census, the city had a population of 189,885. It is the principal city of the Columbus, Georgia metropolitan area, which, in 2009, had an estimated population of 292,795...
and Tucson, Arizona
Tucson, Arizona
Tucson is a city in and the county seat of Pima County, Arizona, United States. The city is located 118 miles southeast of Phoenix and 60 miles north of the U.S.-Mexico border. The 2010 United States Census puts the city's population at 520,116 with a metropolitan area population at 1,020,200...
. He began playing piano at age 5 and switched to trumpet at age 9 while at the Brookstone School
Brookstone School
Brookstone School is a private Pre-K-12 university-preparatory school located in Columbus, Georgia, USA. It was established in 1951 and relocated to its current campus in 1969.-Athletics:* Boys'/girls' cross country* Boys'/girls' track...
in Columbus. At age 12, his family relocated to Tucson, where he played in his school band program. He led his first group at 16 and received funding from the Tucson Jazz Society to continue his studies. In 1983-84 Matheny attended the Interlochen Arts Academy in Michigan and, from 1984–89, Berklee College of Music
Berklee College of Music
Berklee College of Music, located in Boston, Massachusetts, is the largest independent college of contemporary music in the world. Known primarily as a school for jazz, rock and popular music, it also offers college-level courses in a wide range of contemporary and historic styles, including hip...
in Boston.
Matheny performed regularly in the Boston area in 1987-88 with the True Colors Big Band, led by composer Ken Schaphorst
Ken Schaphorst
Ken Schaphorst is a composer, performer, and educator currently chairing the Jazz Studies and Improvisation Department at the New England Conservatory in Boston. Before moving to Boston in 2001, Schaphorst served as Director of Jazz Studies at Lawrence University in Appleton, Wisconsin for ten years...
, and in 1988 with the non-profit Jazz Composers Alliance. From 1985-89 Matheny led the New Voice Jazz Sextet, a band which included at different times saxophonists Mark Gross
Mark Gross
Mark Gross is a Baltimore-born jazz alto saxophonist. He studied at the Berklee College of Music, graduating in 1988, then worked in the band of Lionel Hampton, performing in Five Guys Named Moe on Broadway...
, Antonio Hart
Antonio Hart
Antonio Hart is a jazz alto saxophonist. He attended the Baltimore School for the Arts, studied with Andy McGhee at Berklee College of Music, and has a master's degree from Queens College, City University of New York. His initial training was classical, but he switched to jazz in college...
, bassist Peter Herbert
Peter Herbert
Peter Herbert is an Austrian jazz double-bass player who has two albums as leader and who has appeared on the albums of others, including Paul Simon, Franz Koglmann, Marcel Khalife, Arto Tuncboyaciyan, Tom Cohen, and many others.-References:...
and drummer Hans Schuman, founder of JazzReach.
Matheny began his career playing trumpet, studying for a time with noted New York brass teacher Carmine Caruso, but in the late 1980s began focusing on the flugelhorn as his primary instrument. Matheny began studying with jazz flugelhornist Art Farmer in 1988.
San Francisco
After moving to San Francisco in 1989, Matheny formed the Dmitri Matheny Group, his primary working ensemble ever since, and began performing in the Bay Area. During his early years in San Francisco, Matheny also worked in a variety of administrative roles for the San Francisco Jazz Festival.Matheny's annual home season of concerts were fixture of the Bay Area jazz scene while he lived there. The year 2000 was a typical home season, in which Matheny shared the stage with the Del Sol String Quartet, pianist Amina Figarova, and vocalist Ann Dyer and hosting a benefit performance at Yoshi’s for the University of California, Berkeley-based Young Musicians Program, entitled "Diva Night: International Sirens of Song" and featuring Figarova, vocalist Kim Nalley
Kim Nalley
Kim Nalley is an American jazz & blues singer known for her powerful, 3½ octave range that can fill a room with no amplification, melodious scat, and striking stage presence. Nalley is "like Jessica Rabbit and Louis Armstrong at the same time," writer Giorgio Santeria said of her performance at the...
and Claudia Villela performing with the Dmitri Matheny Orchestra.
Notable musicians with whom Matheny has worked are Frankie Avalon
Frankie Avalon
Frankie Avalon is an American actor, singer, playwright, and former teen idol.-Career:By the time he was 12, Avalon was on U.S. television playing his trumpet. As a teenager he played with Bobby Rydell in Rocco and the Saints...
, Larry Coryell
Larry Coryell
Larry Coryell is an American jazz fusion guitarist.-Biography:Coryell was born in Galveston, Texas. He graduated from Richland High School, in Richland, Washington, where he played in local bands The Jailers, The Rumblers, The Royals, and The Flames. He also played with The Checkers from nearby...
, Nathan Davis
Nathan Davis
Nathan Davis was an American film and television actor.Davis was born in Chicago, Illinois, the son of Romanian immigrants, Rose and Fred Davis.Davis started acting in the late 1970s...
, Fabian
Fabian
-People:*Fabian Månsson, , Swedish socialist*Fabian , , 1950s American teen idol and singer*Fabian Bachrach, an American photographer*Fabian Cancellara, , Swiss professional road cyclist...
, Amina Figarova
Amina Figarova
Amina Figarova is a jazz composer and jazz pianist. She currently lives in Rotterdam, Netherlands.-Education:Amina began studying music as a child, beginning learning the piano, and expanding into musical composition and arrangement as she matured...
, Tommy Flanagan
Tommy Flanagan
Thomas Lee Flanagan was an American jazz pianist born in Detroit, Michigan, particularly remembered for his work with Ella Fitzgerald...
, the Four Tops, Wycliffe Gordon
Wycliffe Gordon
Wycliffe Gordon is a jazz trombonist. He also plays didgeridoo, trumpet, tuba, piano and sings.In 1995, he re-orchestrated the theme song for NPR's All Things Considered...
, Darrell Grant, Larry Grenadier
Larry Grenadier
Larry Grenadier is an American jazz double bassist.His father, Albert, was a trumpet player, and his two brothers, Phil and Steve, would eventually play trumpet and guitar respectively. Grenadier too began on trumpet when he was 10 years old. His father taught him to read music and gave him his...
, John Handy
John Handy
John Richard Handy III is an American jazz alto saxophonist.-Biography:In the 1960s, Handy led several groups...
, Billy Higgins
Billy Higgins
Billy Higgins was an American jazz drummer. He played mainly free jazz and hard bop.Higgins was born in Los Angeles, California. Higgins played on Ornette Coleman's first records, beginning in 1958...
, Red Holloway
Red Holloway
James W. "Red" Holloway is an American jazz tenor saxophonist.-Biography:Holloway started playing banjo and harmonica, switching to tenor sax when he was twelve years old...
, Denise Jannah
Denise Jannah
Denise Jannah, real name: Denise Johanna Zeefuik - Dutch Suriname-born jazz vocalist, first Dutch jazz soloist to be signed by the Blue Note recording label.She was born in Paramaribo...
, James Moody
James Moody (saxophonist)
James Moody was an American jazz saxophone and flute player. He was best known for his hit "Moody's Mood for Love," an improvisation based on "I'm in the Mood for Love"; in performance, he often improvised vocals for the tune.-Biography:James Moody was born in Savannah, Georgia...
, The O'Jays
The O'Jays
The O'Jays are an American R&B group from Canton, Ohio, formed in 1963 and originally consisting of Eddie Levert , Walter Williams , William Powell , Bobby Massey and Bill Isles. The O'Jays were inducted into the Vocal Group Hall of Fame in 2004, and The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2005...
, Sandy Patty, Jean Louis Rassinfosse, Margo Reed, Tony Reedus
Tony Reedus
Tony Reedus was an American jazz drummer.Reedus first gained notice playing in Woody Shaw's band in the 1980s...
, Martha Reeves
Martha Reeves
Martha Rose Reeves is an American R&B and Pop singer and former politician, and was the lead singer of the Motown girl group Martha and the Vandellas. During her tenure with The Vandellas, they scored over a dozen hit singles, including "Jimmy Mack", "Dancing in the Street" and "Nowhere to Run"...
, Sam Rivers
Sam Rivers
Samuel Carthorne Rivers , is an American jazz musician and composer. He performs on soprano and tenor saxophones, bass clarinet, flute, harmonica and piano....
, Max Roach
Max Roach
Maxwell Lemuel "Max" Roach was an American jazz percussionist, drummer, and composer.A pioneer of bebop, Roach went on to work in many other styles of music, and is generally considered alongside the most important drummers in history...
, Dennis Rowland
Dennis Rowland
Dennis Rowland is a jazz vocalist born and raised in Detroit, MI. Having grown up in a household of jazz enthusiasts, Rowland developed an appreciation for Jazz music at an early age. At the age of five or six Rowland heard the vocals of Joe Williams of the Count Basie Orchestra, which has...
, the Rosenberg Trio, Bobby Rydell
Bobby Rydell
Bobby Rydell is an American professional singer, mainly of rock and roll music. In the early 1960s he was considered a so-called "teen idol"...
, Bud Shank
Bud Shank
Clifford Everett "Bud" Shank, Jr. was an American alto saxophonist and flautist. He rose to prominence in the early 1950s playing lead alto and flute in Stan Kenton's Innovations in Modern Music Orchestra and throughout the decade worked in various small jazz combos. He spent the 1960s as a first...
, Sonny Simmons
Sonny Simmons
Huey "Sonny" Simmons is an American jazz musician.He grew up in Oakland, California, where he began playing the english horn. At age 16 he took up the alto saxophone, which became his primary instrument...
, Mary Stallings
Mary Stallings
Mary Stallings is an American jazz vocalist and mother of R&B/soul singer Adriana Evans.-Biography:Mary Stallings was born in San Francisco, one of the eldest of 11 children in the Stallings family; saxophonist Ron Stallings is her first cousin...
, Akira Tana, Billy Taylor
Billy Taylor
Billy Taylor was an American jazz pianist, composer, broadcaster and educator. He was the Robert L. Jones Distinguished Professor of Music at East Carolina University in Greenville, and since 1994, he was the artistic director for jazz at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in...
, the Temptations
The Temptations
The Temptations is an American vocal group having achieved fame as one of the most successful acts to record for Motown Records. The group's repertoire has included, at various times during its five-decade career, R&B, doo-wop, funk, disco, soul, and adult contemporary music.Formed in Detroit,...
, Bobby Watson
Bobby Watson
Bobby Watson is an American post-bop jazz alto saxophonist, composer, producer, and educator. Watson now has 26 recordings as a leader. He appears on nearly 100 other recordings as either co-leader or in a supporting role...
and Paula West
Paula West
Paula West is an American jazz and cabaret singer known for her rich, powerful contralto voice and for her sensitive interpretations of an extraordinarily eclectic selection of songs ranging far beyond jazz standards and cabaret chestnuts.-Early career:...
.
Dmitri Matheny performs regularly at clubs throughout the United States and Europe. Notable Bay Area clubs in which Matheny has performed include Yoshi's, Cafe Du Nord, and the Kuumbwa Jazz Center in Santa Cruz.
Festival appearances are also a significant part of his performance schedule. Among Matheny's many festival appearances are the American Broadway Music Festival (1999), Berkeley Jazz Festival (1999), Big Sur Jazz Festival (1997), Black Magic Woman Festival, Netherlands (2002), Britt Festival
Britt Festival
Britt is a non-profit performing arts festival located in Jacksonville, Oregon. Since its creation it has been among the premier performing arts festivals in the Northwest, and has managed to attract high-profile and local acts in music for decades. Britt also sponsors a number of educational...
(2001), Caspian Jazz & Blues Festival, Azerbaijan (2002), Chandler Jazz Festival http://www.chandleraz.gov/default.aspx?pageid=160 (2010), Festival of New American Music (2000), Jakarta International Festival, Indonesia (2001), Jazz on the Hill Festival (1998), Krakow International Festival, Poland (1996), Left Coast Jazz Festival (1997), Mexicali Jazz Festival, Mexico (2002), Monterey Jazz Festival
Monterey Jazz Festival
The Monterey Jazz Festival is one of the longest consecutively running jazz festivals. It debuted on October 3, 1958 and was founded by San Francisco jazz radio broadcaster Jimmy Lyons.-History:...
(1989, 1996, 1999, 2004), North Beach Jazz Festival (2000, 2001), Oregon Coast Music Festival (2001), Pacifica Jazz Festival (1999), Paradise Valley Jazz Party (2010), Redlands Bowl
Redlands Bowl
The Redlands Bowl is an amphitheatre in Redlands, California, USA, founded in 1924, and used for music and theatric performances that are offered to the public for free....
Summer Music Festival (2002, 2010), San Francisco Jazz Festival
San Francisco Jazz Festival
Debuting in 1983, the San Francisco Jazz Festival is an annual three-week celebration of today's best music, with over 30 concerts. Produced by SFJAZZ, a non-profit organization dedicated to jazz and jazz education...
(1997, 1998, 2004, 2005), San Jose Jazz Festival
San Jose Jazz Festival
The San José Jazz Festival is an annual jazz festival organized by the San Jose Jazz Society and held in downtown San Jose, California, USA. The festival was established in 1990, and is mainly outdoors....
(2000), Santa Cruz Jazz Festival (1997), Stanford Jazz Festival (1997, 1998, 1999), Stern Grove Festival
Stern Grove Festival
Established in 1938, the Stern Grove Festival is an admission-free series of performing arts events held during the summer months at the Sigmund Stern Recreation Grove, a eucalyptus-wooded natural amphitheater on a site at 19th Avenue and Sloat Boulevard, about two miles south of Golden Gate Park...
(1999), Tamaya Jazz Festival (2002), Taos Jazz Festival (2002), Telluride Jazz Celebration
Telluride Jazz Celebration
Produced by Telluride Society For Jazz, Telluride's annual jazz festival has been around since 1977. Telluride has been the site of an annual cultural event produced by the Telluride Society for Jazz, the Telluride Jazz Celebration...
(1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2010) and Thelonious Monk Institute Colony at Jazz Aspen Snowmass (1997, 1998, 1999).
Matheny performed as guest jazz soloist with the Dallas Symphony Orchestra
Dallas Symphony Orchestra
The Dallas Symphony Orchestra is an American orchestra. It performs its concerts in the Meyerson Symphony Center in the Arts District of downtown Dallas, Texas, United States....
on November 21, 1998 and the San Francisco Symphony
San Francisco Symphony
The San Francisco Symphony is an orchestra based in San Francisco, California. Since 1980, the orchestra has performed at the Louise M. Davies Symphony Hall. The San Francisco Symphony Youth Orchestra and the San Francisco Symphony Chorus are part of the organization...
on March 17, 2001. Matheny has also worked with the San Francisco Symphony's "Adventures in Music" program.
Monarch Records
In the early 1990s, Matheny relocated to San Francisco. In 1995 he signed a contract with Monarch Records. The label released Matheny's first recording as a leader, Red Reflections, that year. The CD, a mixture of standards and Matheny's original compositions, featured performances by saxophonists Rob Scheps and Dave Ellis, guitarist John Heller, bassists Bill Douglass and Trevor Dunn, drummers Scott AmendolaScott Amendola
Scott Amendola is an American jazz drummer from the San Francisco Bay Area. His styles include jazz, blues, groove, rock and new music. He is considered central to the Bay Area music scene....
and Alan Jones, and percussionist Ian Dogole. A CD release concert for Red Reflections took place at Carnegie Hall
Carnegie Hall
Carnegie Hall is a concert venue in Midtown Manhattan in New York City, United States, located at 881 Seventh Avenue, occupying the east stretch of Seventh Avenue between West 56th Street and West 57th Street, two blocks south of Central Park....
's Weill Recital Hall in February 1996.
The following year Matheny released his second recording, Penumbra: The Moon Sessions. The CD used the moon as a theme and inspiration and featured saxophonist Dave Ellis, guitarist John Heller, bassist Bill Douglass, drummer Kenny Wollesen
Kenny Wollesen
Kenny Wollesen is an American drummer and percussionist.Wollesen lives in New York City. He has recorded and toured with many musicians including Tom Waits, Sean Lennon, Ron Sexsmith, Bill Frisell, Norah Jones, Steven Bernstein and John Zorn. He is a founding member of the New Klezmer Trio and a...
and accordionist Rob Burger. Penumbra, produced by noted jazz producer Orrin Keepnews
Orrin Keepnews
Orrin Keepnews is an American writer and jazz record producer. In June 2010, he received a lifetime achievement award from the National Endowment for the Arts.- Career :...
, was named one of the 10 Best Jazz Recordings of 1996 by JazzIz Magazine. The San Francisco Bay Guardian
San Francisco Bay Guardian
The San Francisco Bay Guardian is a free alternative newspaper published weekly in San Francisco, California. The paper is owned mostly by its publisher, Bruce B...
called Penumbra the Best Jazz Recording of 1996.
Matheny's third recording for Monarch Records, Starlight Café, recorded live at the JazzSchool in Berkeley, California with a pared down lineup of pianist Darrell Grant and bassist Bill Douglass, was released in 1998. Starlight Café was named one of the Top 10 Jazz Recordings of the Year by the Oakland Tribune. Matheny and Grant played a Starlight Café release concert at Weill Recital Hall in October 1998.
Papillon Records
Matheny's follow up to Starlight Café was the Christmas CD, Santa's Got a Brand New Bag, released on Papillon Records in 2000. The CD featured vocalists Brenda Boykin, Clairdee, and Paula WestPaula West
Paula West is an American jazz and cabaret singer known for her rich, powerful contralto voice and for her sensitive interpretations of an extraordinarily eclectic selection of songs ranging far beyond jazz standards and cabaret chestnuts.-Early career:...
, accordionist Rob Burger, French horn player Mark Taylor, tenor and soprano saxophonist Kenny Brooks, guitarists Brad Buethe and Benjamin Rodefer, pianists Darrell Grant and Bill Bell, bassists Ruth Davies, and drummers Jason Lewis and Eddie Marshall.
Matheny's 2005 release, Nocturne, in some ways echoed the tone and settings of 1997's Penumbra. Andrew Gilbert, writing for The San Diego Union-Tribune
The San Diego Union-Tribune
-Predecessors:The predecessor newspapers of the Union-Tribune were:* San Diego Sun, founded 1861 and merged with the Evening Tribune in 1939.* San Diego Union, founded October 10, 1868.* Evening Tribune, founded December 2, 1895.-Ownership:...
, said of Nocturne, "Matheny draws on the European classical tradition of night-inspired musical settings, from Mozart and Schumann to Chopin and Debussy ... the pieces are mostly composed ... Starting with "Twilight," the album moves through a 12-movement cycle that concludes with the gentle "Awakening". The CD, Matheny's second Papillon recording, featured guitarist Brad Buethe, bassist Ruth Davies, percussionist Deszon X. Claiborne, violinists Jeremy Cohen and Sarah Knutson, violist Emily Onderdonk, cellist Marika Hughes, saxophonist Charles McNeal, harpist Karon Gottlieb and Bart Platteau on shakuhachi
Shakuhachi
The is a Japanese end-blown flute. It is traditionally made of bamboo, but versions now exist in ABS and hardwoods. It was used by the monks of the Fuke school of Zen Buddhism in the practice of...
.
The Snowcat, Matheny’s third recording for Papillon records, is a secular holiday offering. The work is based on the ancient Asian parable of "the Oxherder," in which a herdboy's quest to find his missing ox is likened to an individual's journey through life. Indian in origin, the parable became popular in medieval Japan and was depicted on 13th century handscrolls as the "Ten Oxherding Songs" or Ten Oxherding Pictures
Ten Bulls
Ten Bulls or Ten Ox Herding Pictures is, in the tradition of Zen Buddhism, a series of short poems and accompanying pictures that are intended to illustrate the stages of a Mahāyāna Buddhist practitioner's progression towards enlightenment, as well as his or her subsequent perfection of wisdom...
. The scrolls traditionally divide the hero's journey into ten stages each illustrated by a circularly framed image and a simple verse. Rendered in the graphic style of Japanese narrative illustration, the story format is as simple as a modern day comic or coloring book. In Matheny’s version of the tale, the hero is changed from a boy to a girl and her companion is not an ox, but a cat. Matheny serves as storyteller as well as flugelhornist on the recording. Also performing on the recordings are vocalist Zoe Ellis, saxophonist Charles McNeal, guitarist Brad Buethe, bassist Ruth Davies, and drummer Deszon X. Claiborne.
Spirito Sanctu: The New Millennium Mass is a seventeen-movement liturgical work, commissioned as part of San Francisco’s millennial New Year's Eve celebration. The composition received its world premiere at San Francisco’s St. Dominic’s Catholic Church
St. Dominic Church in San Francisco
St. Dominic's Church in San Francisco, California, is a Roman Catholic parish situated in the Western Addition neighborhood, located at 2390 Bush St. . The parish was established by the Dominican order in 1873, and the current church, built in the Gothic style, was finished in 1928. In addition to...
precisely at midnight on December 31, 1999. The premiere performance was recorded live at its premiere and released on Papillon Records in 2007. Spirito Sanctu was scored for chorus, organ, percussion, brass quintet, jazz ensemble and gospel soloist, the Mass was conducted by Dr. David Schofield David Schofield. Among the performers featured were vocalist Clairdee, keyboardist Matthew Clark, bassist Ruth Davies, percussionist Curt Moore, the San Francisco Brass, and the St. Dominic’s Choir.
In 2008, Papillon Records released The Best of Dmitri Matheny, a compilation of tracks that had appeared previously in his discography, save one: a brief jump style arrangement of "Take Me Out to the Ball Game
Take Me Out to the Ball Game
"Take Me Out to the Ball Game" is a 1908 Tin Pan Alley song by Jack Norworth and Albert Von Tilzer which has become the unofficial anthem of baseball, although neither of its authors had attended a game prior to writing the song. The song is traditionally sung during the seventh-inning stretch of...
."
Matheny's most recent Papillon release is Grant & Matheny with pianist Darrell Grant. The CD is the first commercial release by the duo, who have performed together extensively since 1998. The recording, which features a range of music from Vincent Youmans
Vincent Youmans
Vincent Youmans was an American popular composer and Broadway producer.- Life :Vincent Millie Youmans was born in New York City on September 27, 1898 and grew-up on Central Park West on the site where the Mayflower Hotel once stood. His father, a prosperous hat manufacturer, moved the family to...
' "Without a Song" to Thelonious Monk
Thelonious Monk
Thelonious Sphere Monk was an American jazz pianist and composer considered "one of the giants of American music". Monk had a unique improvisational style and made numerous contributions to the standard jazz repertoire, including "Epistrophy", "'Round Midnight", "Blue Monk", "Straight, No Chaser"...
's "Think of One" to Keith Jarrett
Keith Jarrett
Keith Jarrett is an American pianist and composer who performs both jazz and classical music.Jarrett started his career with Art Blakey, moving on to play with Charles Lloyd and Miles Davis. Since the early 1970s he has enjoyed a great deal of success in jazz, jazz fusion, and classical music; as...
's "Country" to original works by the duo, was released in 2010 on Papillon Records.
Film Music
Three of Matheny's own recordings of his compositions, "Penumbra," "Moon Rocks" and "Red Reflections," were used on the soundtrack to the RKO Pictures feature film ShadeShade (film)
Shade is a 2003 neo-noir crime drama starring Stuart Townsend, Gabriel Byrne, Thandie Newton, Jamie Foxx, Roger Guenveur Smith, Melanie Griffith and Sylvester Stallone...
(2003), starring Gabriel Byrne
Gabriel Byrne
Gabriel James Byrne is an Irish actor, film director, film producer, writer, cultural ambassador and audiobook narrator. His acting career began in the Focus Theatre before he joined Londo's Royal Court Theatre in 1979. Byrne's screen debut came in the Irish soap opera The Riordans and the...
, Jamie Foxx
Jamie Foxx
Eric Marlon Bishop , professionally known as Jamie Foxx, is an American actor, singer-songwriter, stand-up comedian, and talk radio host. As an actor, his work in the film Ray earned him the Academy Award and BAFTA Award for Best Actor as well as the Golden Globe Award for Best Actor in a...
, Melanie Griffith
Melanie Griffith
Melanie Richards Griffith is an American actress. She is an Academy Award nominee and Golden Globe winner for her performance in the 1988 film Working Girl...
and Sylvester Stallone
Sylvester Stallone
Michael Sylvester Gardenzio Stallone , commonly known as Sylvester Stallone, and nicknamed Sly Stallone, is an American actor, filmmaker, screenwriter, film director and occasional painter. Stallone is known for his machismo and Hollywood action roles. Two of the notable characters he has portrayed...
.
Matheny's other film scoring and soundtrack credits include the documentary Mary, Paradox & Grace (PBS, 1996), the industrial short film Greenhorn Creek (1997), the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art
San Francisco Museum of Modern Art
The San Francisco Museum of Modern Art is a modern art museum located in San Francisco, California. A nonprofit organization, SFMOMA holds an internationally recognized collection of modern and contemporary art and was the first museum on the West Coast devoted solely to 20th century art...
production Voices & Images of California Art (1997). Matheny also contributed music for the Cannes Film Festival
Cannes Film Festival
The Cannes International Film Festival , is an annual film festival held in Cannes, France, which previews new films of all genres including documentaries from around the world. Founded in 1946, it is among the world's most prestigious and publicized film festivals...
premiere of "Stanley's Girlfriend," a short from the horror anthology Trapped Ashes (2006).
Producing
Matheny produced a number of recordings for Monarch Records in the 1990s. Since first studying with jazz flugelhornist Art FarmerArt Farmer
Arthur Stewart "Art" Farmer was an American jazz trumpeter and flugelhorn player. He also played flumpet, a trumpet/flugelhorn combination designed for him by David Monette. His identical twin brother, Addison Farmer Arthur Stewart "Art" Farmer (August 21, 1928, Council Bluffs, Iowa –...
in the late 1980s, Matheny had developed a close relationship with the noted jazz musician and fellow Arizonan. In 1997, Matheny served as Executive Producer of Farmer's recording, Live at the Stanford Jazz Workshop. He also wrote the liner notes for the critically well-received CD.
Collaborations
Matheny has collaborated frequently with pianist Amina FigarovaAmina Figarova
Amina Figarova is a jazz composer and jazz pianist. She currently lives in Rotterdam, Netherlands.-Education:Amina began studying music as a child, beginning learning the piano, and expanding into musical composition and arrangement as she matured...
. As a member of her Amina Figarova International Band Matheny performed in Europe, Asia and North America between 1998 and 2006. Matheny's most frequent collaborator is pianist Darrell Grant. The two have performed together on numerous occasions and in a variety of settings, from classrooms to the Monterey Jazz Festival as the duo Grant & Matheny.
Education
Matheny regularly presents clinics, lectures, master classes and workshops at the university level. He has also staged more than 500 free, curriculum-based concerts for children; a total audience of over 50,000. Matheny has held teaching faculty and management positions with the Jazzschool, Boston Center for the ArtsBoston Center for the Arts
The Boston Center for the Arts is a 501 nonprofit visual and performing arts complex in the South End neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts. The BCA houses several performance and rehearsal spaces, restaurants, a gallery, the headquarters of the Boston Ballet, the Community Music Center of Boston...
, Chabot Space and Science Center
Chabot Space and Science Center
Chabot Space and Science Center, located in Oakland, California, is a hands-on center featuring interactive exhibits, a digital planetarium, a large screen theater, hands-on activities and three powerful telescopes....
, and the Stanford Jazz Workshop
Stanford Jazz Workshop
Stanford Jazz Workshop was founded in 1972 by saxophonist and educator Jim Nadel to create an environment conducive to learning, experiencing and appreciating jazz...
. He has also served as Director of Education for SFJAZZ, as Assistant Education Director for the Thelonious Monk Institute Jazz Colony at Jazz Aspen Snowmass, and as Artist-In-Residence for the Siskiyou Institute of Ashland and the Young Musicians Program of the University of California, Berkeley
University of California, Berkeley
The University of California, Berkeley , is a teaching and research university established in 1868 and located in Berkeley, California, USA...
.
Awards and Commissions
In 1998, Matheny was selected as Talent Deserving Wider Recognition in the 46th Annual Down Beat MagazineDown Beat
Down Beat is an American magazine devoted to "jazz, blues and beyond" to indicate its expansion beyond the jazz realm which it covered exclusively in previous years. The publication was established in 1934 in Chicago, Illinois...
Critics Poll. In 1999, Matheny was named a Best New Artist by JazzIz Magazine, along with pianist Brad Mehldau
Brad Mehldau
Brad Mehldau is an American jazz pianist. Besides leading his own group, the Brad Mehldau Trio, he has performed with many renowned artists, including Pat Metheny, Wayne Shorter, Larry Grenadier, Peter Bernstein, Jeff Ballard, Joshua Redman, Christian McBride, Michael Brecker, Chris Potter, Kurt...
, vibraphonist Stefon Harris
Stefon Harris
Stefon Harris is an American jazz vibraphonist. In 1999, the Los Angeles Times called him "one of the most important young artists in jazz" who is "at the forefront of new New York music" and "much in demand as a star sideman"...
, and saxophonist Ravi Coltrane
Ravi Coltrane
Ravi Coltrane is an American post-bop jazz saxophonist. Co-owner of the record label RKM Music, he has produced artists such as pianist Luis Perdomo , guitarist David Gilmore and trumpeter Ralph Alessi....
. Matheny was named one of the Bay Area Best by the San Francisco Examiner Magazine in 1997, 1998, and 2000. Also in 2000, Matheny was recognized for Outstanding Service to Jazz Education by the International Association for Jazz Education.
Matheny has received commissions and premieres from Meet the Composer
Meet the Composer
Meet the Composer is an American organization founded in 1974 by the composer John Duffy as a project of the New York State Council on the Arts. It seeks to assist composers in making a living through writing music by sponsoring commissioning, residency, education, and audience interaction...
, the Manhattan New Music Project, the American Society of Composers Authors and Publishers, the Bay Area Jazz Composers Orchestra and 20th Century Forum.
As Leader
- 1995 Red Reflections (Monarch Records MR-1009)
- 1996 Penumbra (Monarch Records MR-1014)
- 1998 Starlight Café (Monarch Records MR-1018)
- 2000 Santa's Got a Brand New Bag (Papillon PRCD-001)
- 2005 Nocturne (Papillon PRCD-002)
- 2006 The SnowCat (Papillon PRCD-003)
- 2007 Spiritu Sancto (Papillon PRCD-004)
- 2008 Best of Dmitri Matheny (Papillon PRCD-005)
- 2010 Grant & Matheny (Papillon PRCD-006)
As Sideman
- Janice Jarrett Blue Nights & Sunshower (2011 Anjana Publishing)
- Don Pender Birth of the Cool Revisited (2008)
- Martan Mann Le Petit Concert (Jazzical Recordings, 2005)
- Ron Kaplan Lounging Around (Kapland Records, 1999)
- Ron Kaplan Dedicated (Kapland Records 2004)
- Clairdee Destination Moon (Declare Music, 1999)
- Clairdee This Christmas (Declare Music CD7-2701, 2002)
- Cathi Walkup Living in a Daydream (Flying Weasel Enterprises, 1999)
- Cathi Walkup Playing Favorites (Flying Weasel Enterprises, 2002)
- Jacintha Lush Life (Groove Note Records, 2002)
- Nika Rejto Midnight Kiss (Unika Records, 2002)
- Nika Rejto Bridge Weaver (Unika Records, 1998)
- Amina FigarovaAmina FigarovaAmina Figarova is a jazz composer and jazz pianist. She currently lives in Rotterdam, Netherlands.-Education:Amina began studying music as a child, beginning learning the piano, and expanding into musical composition and arrangement as she matured...
Jazz at the Pinehill: Live in Europe Vol. 2 (Munich Records, 2001) - Amina FigarovaAmina FigarovaAmina Figarova is a jazz composer and jazz pianist. She currently lives in Rotterdam, Netherlands.-Education:Amina began studying music as a child, beginning learning the piano, and expanding into musical composition and arrangement as she matured...
Jazz at the Pinehill: Live in Europe Vol. 1 (Munich Records, 2001) - Safari Safari (2001)
- Ian Dogole Ian Dogole Home Page & Global Fusion Night Harvest (Global Fusion Music, 2000)
- Ian Dogole Ian Dogole Home Page & Global Fusion Ionospheres (Cei CYK-807-2, 1997)
- Birdland Express Passion Fire (2000)
- Five Voices Quint-Essential (2000)
- Crown Project Modern Mancini (Sugo/Monarch Records, 1999)
- Crown Project Gershwin on Monarch (Monarch Records 1017, 1998)(Medici Classics/Sunset Classics & Jazz)
- Dave Ellis In the Long Run (1998)
- Daria Daria Jazz Vocalist Just the Beginning (Jazz'M Up Records, 1997)
- Yehudit Yehudit, Jazz Violin Yehudit (Edgetone Records 1997)
- Ken SchaphorstKen SchaphorstKen Schaphorst is a composer, performer, and educator currently chairing the Jazz Studies and Improvisation Department at the New England Conservatory in Boston. Before moving to Boston in 2001, Schaphorst served as Director of Jazz Studies at Lawrence University in Appleton, Wisconsin for ten years...
Making Lunch (1989; Accurate Records Accurate Records Home AC-4201, 1994)
With Various Artists
- Stardust, Vol. 2 (Meritage Jazz, 2011)
- Willow Weep for Me, Vol. 3 (Meritage Jazz, 2011)
- What a Wonderful World, Vol. 4 (Meritage Jazz, 2011)
- Moonlight in Vermont, Vol. 5 (Meritage Jazz, 2011)
- Summertime, Vol. 6 (Meritage Jazz, 2011)
- My Romance, Vol. 7 (Meritage Jazz, 2011)
- My Funny Valentine, Vol. 8 (Meritage Jazz, 2011)
- Night and Day, Vol. 9 (Meritage Jazz, 2011)
- In a Sentimental Mood, Vol. 10 (Meritage Jazz, 2011)
- Body and Soul, Vol. 11 (Meritage Jazz, 2011)
- Autumn Leaves, Vol. 13 (Meritage Jazz, 2011)
- Sentimental Journey, Vol. 14 (Meritage Jazz, 2011)
- As Time Goes By, Vol. 15 (Meritage Jazz, 2011)
- Perfect Music Collection Vol. 2 (2010)
- Chickenman Volume 1 (Chicago Radio Syndicate, Inc., 2009)
- Jazz at Peace Vol. 4 (2008)
- Deluxe: Cool Jazz (2007)
- Caspian International Jazz & Blues Festival (2002)
- Enchanted Evening - Music For Lovers (2002)
- Sharper Image: Cool Jazz (1998)
As Composer
- Tango No. 9 Here Live No Fish, composer, "Sea of Tranquility" (Spillhouse 2007)
As Executive Producer and Annotator
- Art Farmer Live at Stanford Jazz Workshop (Monarch Records MR-1013 1997)
As Executive Producer
- Dave Ellis Raven (Monarch Records 1996)(Medici Classics/Sunset Classics & Jazz)
- Tom Peron/Bud Spangler Dedication (Medici Classics/Sunset Classics & Jazz)
- Eddie Marshall San Francisco Nighthawks (Monarch Records, 1996)(Medici Classics/Sunset Classics & Jazz)
As Associate Producer
- SFJAZZ SF Jazz Festival Sampler 96 Vol. 1 (Jazz In The City, 1996)