Matt Johnson (keyboardist)
Encyclopedia
Matt Johnson is a keyboardist who plays for the alternative jazz
band Jamiroquai
.
Matt was aged one and a half when he started playing the piano at his family home. ‘My dad was a musician so there was always music playing in the house, but I remember being taught by a scary old piano teacher, who must have been over 90 years old’. His influences range from Herbie Hancock
and Miles Davis
through to Squarepusher
.
Before playing in Jamiroquai he was a hugely respected writer and performer in bands "Sunray", with whom Kym Mazelle
recorded a cover of "Perhaps", and Nu Hope. He has also written and produced artists with artists such as Alexia, who had a minor hit with "Ring".
His route into Jamiroquai was via an audition in 2001. He was recommended by Simon Katz, a previous guitarist, and Derrick gave him the call. The audition was a success and Matt is now a well established writer and member of the Jamiroquai family.
Johnson has recently become chief song writing partner and producer along with fellow band mate, guitarist Rob Harris, for the highly anticipated teenage singer/songwriter Julian Perretta (Sony BMG) towards his debut album. A date for release is thought to be 2009.
Acid jazz
Acid jazz is a musical genre that combines elements of jazz, funk and hip-hop, particularly looped beats. It developed in the UK over the 1980s and 1990s and could be seen as tacking the sound of jazz-funk onto electronic dance: jazz-funk musicians such as Roy Ayers, Donald Byrd and Grant Green are...
band Jamiroquai
Jamiroquai
Jamiroquai is a British jazz funk and acid jazz band formed in 1992. Jamiroquai were initially the most prominent component in the early-1990s London-based acid jazz movement, alongside groups such as Incognito, the James Taylor Quartet, and the Brand New Heavies. Other Acid Jazz artists such as...
.
Matt was aged one and a half when he started playing the piano at his family home. ‘My dad was a musician so there was always music playing in the house, but I remember being taught by a scary old piano teacher, who must have been over 90 years old’. His influences range from Herbie Hancock
Herbie Hancock
Herbert Jeffrey "Herbie" Hancock is an American pianist, bandleader and composer. As part of Miles Davis's "second great quintet," Hancock helped to redefine the role of a jazz rhythm section and was one of the primary architects of the "post-bop" sound...
and Miles Davis
Miles Davis
Miles Dewey Davis III was an American jazz musician, trumpeter, bandleader, and composer. Widely considered one of the most influential musicians of the 20th century, Miles Davis was, with his musical groups, at the forefront of several major developments in jazz music, including bebop, cool jazz,...
through to Squarepusher
Squarepusher
Squarepusher is the performing pseudonym of Tom Jenkinson, an English electronic music artist signed to Warp Records. He specialises in the electronic music genres of drum and bass and acid, with a significant jazz and musique concrète influence....
.
Before playing in Jamiroquai he was a hugely respected writer and performer in bands "Sunray", with whom Kym Mazelle
Kym Mazelle
Kym Mazelle is an American dance-pop, Hi-NRG, soul, and house singer. She was brought up and lived on the same street as the Jackson family and knew Michael Jackson's mother and uncle.-Career:...
recorded a cover of "Perhaps", and Nu Hope. He has also written and produced artists with artists such as Alexia, who had a minor hit with "Ring".
His route into Jamiroquai was via an audition in 2001. He was recommended by Simon Katz, a previous guitarist, and Derrick gave him the call. The audition was a success and Matt is now a well established writer and member of the Jamiroquai family.
Johnson has recently become chief song writing partner and producer along with fellow band mate, guitarist Rob Harris, for the highly anticipated teenage singer/songwriter Julian Perretta (Sony BMG) towards his debut album. A date for release is thought to be 2009.