Matt Finders
Encyclopedia
Matt Finders is an American trombonist based in Southern California. A former member of The Tonight Show Band
, he has played with various big band
s and in major musical productions on Broadway
. Though Finders has worked in many genres, his primary focus is on jazz. He works on various projects in the Los Angeles
area and has traveled as a clinician
and guest artist to various schools around the nation.
. At age nine, he chose to begin studying trombone
while attending Fifth Street Elementry because his brother already had one. He began playing jazz at East Avenue Middle School and later played in the Livermore High School Jazz Band and went on to study at San Jose State University
.
s of Toshiko Akiyoshi
, Bob Mintzer
and Bill Warfield among others, and was the trombonist with the Tonight Show with Jay Leno Band led by Kevin Eubanks
. He has also played with Natalie Cole
, Harry Connick, Jr.
, Sting, Benny Goodman's Orchestra, Branford Marsalis
, the Woody Herman
Big Band and others. He joined Clark Terry
's big band, where he played alongside Marsalis. He also played for a number of successful Broadway
musical
s, including Cats
, 42nd Street
, City of Angels
, The Secret Garden
and Starlight Express
. He also played at venues all across New York, ranging from Latin
gigs to big band
to disco
. He was a frequent player at the Red Parrot club, a popular disco club, and played with Benny Goodman
on October 7, 1985 at The New York Marriott Marquis.
, with his wife, Terilyn Finders, and two daughters, Beth and Hannah. He leads high school and middle school bands in the area and is the creator and leader of JazzLabb. He is the leader of the Westlake High School
jazz combo program and the Lindero Canyon Middle School B band and combos. Many of the tunes played by the groups are Finders's own originals. He currently plays and records with an octet, which has featured various players, including Chuck Findley
, Big Phat Band's Brian Scanlon, and many others.
The Tonight Show Band
The Tonight Show Band is the band which plays on the American television variety show, The Tonight Show. From 1962 to the 1990s, during the years the show was known as The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson, the band was a 17-piece Big Band, and was an important outlet for jazz on American...
, he has played with various big band
Big band
A big band is a type of musical ensemble associated with jazz and the Swing Era typically consisting of rhythm, brass, and woodwind instruments totaling approximately twelve to twenty-five musicians...
s and in major musical productions on Broadway
Broadway theatre
Broadway theatre, commonly called simply Broadway, refers to theatrical performances presented in one of the 40 professional theatres with 500 or more seats located in the Theatre District centered along Broadway, and in Lincoln Center, in Manhattan in New York City...
. Though Finders has worked in many genres, his primary focus is on jazz. He works on various projects in the Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
area and has traveled as a clinician
Clinic (music)
A musical clinic is an informal meeting with a guest musician, where a small-to-medium sized audience questions the musician's styles and techniques and also how to improve their own skill. The musician might perform an entire piece, or demonstrate certain techniques for the audience to observe.The...
and guest artist to various schools around the nation.
Early years
Finders was born and grew up in Livermore, CaliforniaLivermore, California
Livermore is a city in Alameda County. The population as of 2010 was 80,968. Livermore is located on the eastern edge of California's San Francisco Bay Area....
. At age nine, he chose to begin studying trombone
Trombone
The trombone is a musical instrument in the brass family. Like all brass instruments, sound is produced when the player’s vibrating lips cause the air column inside the instrument to vibrate...
while attending Fifth Street Elementry because his brother already had one. He began playing jazz at East Avenue Middle School and later played in the Livermore High School Jazz Band and went on to study at San Jose State University
San José State University
San Jose State University is a public university located in San Jose, California, United States...
.
Career
Finders has recorded with the big bandBig band
A big band is a type of musical ensemble associated with jazz and the Swing Era typically consisting of rhythm, brass, and woodwind instruments totaling approximately twelve to twenty-five musicians...
s of Toshiko Akiyoshi
Toshiko Akiyoshi
is a Japanese American jazz pianist, composer/arranger and bandleader. Among a very few successful female instrumentalists of her generation in jazz, she is also recognized as a major figure in jazz composition. She has received 14 Grammy nominations, and she was the first woman to win the Best...
, Bob Mintzer
Bob Mintzer
Bob Mintzer is a jazz saxophonist, composer, arranger, and big band leader based in Los Angeles, California. Mintzer is a member of the jazz rock band the Yellowjackets.-With The Yellowjackets:*Greenhouse, 1991;*Live Wires, 1992;...
and Bill Warfield among others, and was the trombonist with the Tonight Show with Jay Leno Band led by Kevin Eubanks
Kevin Eubanks
Kevin Tyrone Eubanks is an American jazz guitarist and composer who was the leader of the Tonight Show Band with host Jay Leno from 1995 to 2010. He also led The Primetime Band on the short-lived The Jay Leno Show.- Personal background :Eubanks was born into a musical family...
. He has also played with Natalie Cole
Natalie Cole
Natalie Maria Cole , is an American singer, songwriter and performer. The daughter of jazz legend Nat King Cole, Cole rode to musical success in the mid-1970s as an R&B artist with the hits "This Will Be ", "Inseparable" and "Our Love"...
, Harry Connick, Jr.
Harry Connick, Jr.
Joseph Harry Fowler Connick, Jr. is an American singer, big-band leader/conductor, pianist, actor, and composer. He has sold over 25 million albums worldwide. Connick is ranked among the top 60 best-selling male artists in the United States by the Recording Industry Association of America, with...
, Sting, Benny Goodman's Orchestra, Branford Marsalis
Branford Marsalis
Branford Marsalis is an American saxophonist, composer and bandleader. While primarily known for his work in jazz as the leader of the Branford Marsalis Quartet, he also performs frequently as a soloist with classical ensembles and has led the group Buckshot LeFonque.-Biography:Marsalis was born...
, the Woody Herman
Woody Herman
Woodrow Charles Herman , known as Woody Herman, was an American jazz clarinetist, alto and soprano saxophonist, singer, and big band leader. Leading various groups called "The Herd," Herman was one of the most popular of the 1930s and '40s bandleaders...
Big Band and others. He joined Clark Terry
Clark Terry
Clark Terry is an American swing and bop trumpeter, a pioneer of the fluegelhorn in jazz, educator, NEA Jazz Masters inductee, and recipient of the 2010 Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award...
's big band, where he played alongside Marsalis. He also played for a number of successful Broadway
Broadway theatre
Broadway theatre, commonly called simply Broadway, refers to theatrical performances presented in one of the 40 professional theatres with 500 or more seats located in the Theatre District centered along Broadway, and in Lincoln Center, in Manhattan in New York City...
musical
Musical theatre
Musical theatre is a form of theatre combining songs, spoken dialogue, acting, and dance. The emotional content of the piece – humor, pathos, love, anger – as well as the story itself, is communicated through the words, music, movement and technical aspects of the entertainment as an...
s, including Cats
Cats (musical)
Cats is a musical composed by Andrew Lloyd Webber, based on Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats by T. S. Eliot...
, 42nd Street
42nd Street (musical)
42nd Street is a musical with a book by Michael Stewart and Mark Bramble, lyrics by Al Dubin, and music by Harry Warren. The 1980 Broadway production, directed by an ailing Gower Champion and orchestrated by Philip J. Lang, won the Tony Award for Best Musical and became a long-running hit...
, City of Angels
City of Angels (musical)
City of Angels is a musical comedy with music by Cy Coleman, lyrics by David Zippel, and book by Larry Gelbart. The musical weaves together two plots, the "real" world of a writer trying to turn his book into a screenplay, and the "reel" world of the fictional film.-Productions:City of Angels...
, The Secret Garden
The Secret Garden (musical)
The Secret Garden is a musical based on the 1911 novel of the same name by Frances Hodgson Burnett. The musical's book and lyrics are by Marsha Norman, with music by Lucy Simon...
and Starlight Express
Starlight Express
Starlight Express is a rock musical by Andrew Lloyd Webber , Richard Stilgoe and Arlene Phillips , with later revisions by Don Black and David Yazbek . The story follows a child's dream in which his toy train set comes to life; famously the actors perform wearing roller skates...
. He also played at venues all across New York, ranging from Latin
Latin
Latin is an Italic language originally spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. It, along with most European languages, is a descendant of the ancient Proto-Indo-European language. Although it is considered a dead language, a number of scholars and members of the Christian clergy speak it fluently, and...
gigs to big band
Big band
A big band is a type of musical ensemble associated with jazz and the Swing Era typically consisting of rhythm, brass, and woodwind instruments totaling approximately twelve to twenty-five musicians...
to disco
Disco
Disco is a genre of dance music. Disco acts charted high during the mid-1970s, and the genre's popularity peaked during the late 1970s. It had its roots in clubs that catered to African American, gay, psychedelic, and other communities in New York City and Philadelphia during the late 1960s and...
. He was a frequent player at the Red Parrot club, a popular disco club, and played with Benny Goodman
Benny Goodman
Benjamin David “Benny” Goodman was an American jazz and swing musician, clarinetist and bandleader; widely known as the "King of Swing".In the mid-1930s, Benny Goodman led one of the most popular musical groups in America...
on October 7, 1985 at The New York Marriott Marquis.
Recent activities
Finders currently lives in Agoura Hills, CaliforniaAgoura Hills, California
Agoura Hills is a city in Los Angeles County, California, and has the ZIP code 91301. The population was 20,330 at the 2010 census, down from 20,537 at the 2000 census. It is located in the eastern Conejo Valley between the Simi Hills and the Santa Monica Mountains. This city on the Ventura...
, with his wife, Terilyn Finders, and two daughters, Beth and Hannah. He leads high school and middle school bands in the area and is the creator and leader of JazzLabb. He is the leader of the Westlake High School
Westlake High School (California)
Westlake High School, often known simply as Westlake or Westlake High is a public high school in Westlake Village, California, hosting grades 9–12...
jazz combo program and the Lindero Canyon Middle School B band and combos. Many of the tunes played by the groups are Finders's own originals. He currently plays and records with an octet, which has featured various players, including Chuck Findley
Chuck Findley
Chuck Findley is an American session musician. Most widely-known as a trumpet player, he also plays other brass instruments such as flugelhorn and trombone...
, Big Phat Band's Brian Scanlon, and many others.
As sideman
- Wishing Peace (Toshiko AkiyoshiToshiko Akiyoshiis a Japanese American jazz pianist, composer/arranger and bandleader. Among a very few successful female instrumentalists of her generation in jazz, she is also recognized as a major figure in jazz composition. She has received 14 Grammy nominations, and she was the first woman to win the Best...
)(1986) - Time Waits for No One (Loren SchoenbergLoren SchoenbergLoren Schoenberg is a jazz historian, writer of liner notes, and tenor saxophonist. He began playing tenor saxophone in 1974 and by the late 1970s he was playing professionally with Benny Goodman...
)(1987) - Yale Archives, Vol. 1-2: Live at Basin Street (Benny GoodmanBenny GoodmanBenjamin David “Benny” Goodman was an American jazz and swing musician, clarinetist and bandleader; widely known as the "King of Swing".In the mid-1930s, Benny Goodman led one of the most popular musical groups in America...
)(1988) - Solid Ground (Loren SchoenbergLoren SchoenbergLoren Schoenberg is a jazz historian, writer of liner notes, and tenor saxophonist. He began playing tenor saxophone in 1974 and by the late 1970s he was playing professionally with Benny Goodman...
)(1988) - Electric Youth (Debbie Gibson) (1989)
- Gigi On The Beach (1989)
- Buck Clayton Swings The Village (Buck ClaytonBuck ClaytonBuck Clayton was an American jazz trumpet player who was a leading member of Count Basie’s "Old Testament" orchestra and a leader of mainstream-oriented jam session recordings in the 1950s. His principal influence was Louis Armstrong...
) (1990) - Carnegie Hall Concert (Toshiko AkiyoshiToshiko Akiyoshiis a Japanese American jazz pianist, composer/arranger and bandleader. Among a very few successful female instrumentalists of her generation in jazz, she is also recognized as a major figure in jazz composition. She has received 14 Grammy nominations, and she was the first woman to win the Best...
)(1991) - Secret Garden (1991)
- Art of the Big Band (Bob MintzerBob MintzerBob Mintzer is a jazz saxophonist, composer, arranger, and big band leader based in Los Angeles, California. Mintzer is a member of the jazz rock band the Yellowjackets.-With The Yellowjackets:*Greenhouse, 1991;*Live Wires, 1992;...
) (1991) - Youkali (Jim HallJim Hall (musician)James Stanley Hall is an American jazz guitarist.-Biography:Educated at the Cleveland Institute of Music, Hall moved to Los Angeles where he began to attract national, and then international, attention in the late 1950s...
) (1992) - Fool For You (1993)
- Motion Poet (Peter ErskinePeter ErskinePeter Erskine is an American jazz drummer and composer. He has enjoyed a long and successful career as a session drummer, recording and touring with many famous jazz and rock artists, including Steely Dan and Weather Report...
) (1993) - Shape I'm In (Joe RoccisanoJoe RoccisanoJoseph Lucian "Joe" Roccisano was an American jazz saxophonist and arranger.Roccisano received his BS in music education from SUNY-Potsdam in 1963...
) (1993) - Buckshot LeFonque (Buckshot LeFonqueBuckshot LeFonqueBuckshot LeFonque was a musical group project of Branford Marsalis. The name Buckshot LeFonque was a pseudonym used by jazz saxophonist Julian "Cannonball" Adderley for contractual reasons on the album Here Comes Louis Smith...
) (1994) - Tribute to Curtis Mayfield (1994)
- City Never Sleeps (Bill Warfield Big Band) (1994)
- Madness (Tony MacAlpineTony MacAlpineTony Jeff MacAlpine is an American guitarist and keyboardist. Having released ten studio albums over a career spanning more than two decades, he is best known as an instrumental solo guitarist, although he has worked with many different bands and musicians in the form of guest appearances and...
) (1994) - Some Cow Fonque (Buckshot LeFonqueBuckshot LeFonqueBuckshot LeFonque was a musical group project of Branford Marsalis. The name Buckshot LeFonque was a pseudonym used by jazz saxophonist Julian "Cannonball" Adderley for contractual reasons on the album Here Comes Louis Smith...
) (1995) - Men In Black (1997)
- Blues for Schuur (Dianne Schuur) (1997)
- Art of Saxophone (1997)
- Very Best of Dianne Schuur (Dianne Schuur) (1997)
- Last Time I Was Here (Bryan DuncanBryan DuncanBryan Duncan is an American CCM musician. he is best known for his role in the Sweet Comfort Band and subsequent solo career that, combined, spanned more than twenty-five years...
) (1998) - Out of This World (1999)
- Absolute Brass (2001)
- Let's Dance (Benny GoodmanBenny GoodmanBenjamin David “Benny” Goodman was an American jazz and swing musician, clarinetist and bandleader; widely known as the "King of Swing".In the mid-1930s, Benny Goodman led one of the most popular musical groups in America...
) (2002) - Inverse Universe (Claudia Villela) (2003)
- All Across the City (Jim HallJim Hall (musician)James Stanley Hall is an American jazz guitarist.-Biography:Educated at the Cleveland Institute of Music, Hall moved to Los Angeles where he began to attract national, and then international, attention in the late 1950s...
) (2003)
External links
- Web page: mattfinders.com
- Short Matt Finders biography at NBC.com
- [ Matt Finders album credits at allmusic.com]