|
|
|
Matt Plays at the Museum of Modern Art
On April 29th, Matt performed in New York City at the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) to celebrate of the music of Duke Ellington on the anniversary of his birthday. There was a screening of award-winning documentary maker Gary Keys’ three films about jazz legend Edward Kennedy Ellington, including Keys’ most recent film, “Reminiscing in Tempo.” Matt did solo performances of never-before performed Ellington tunes from Ellington’s original handwritten scores in between the films, but then he also performed with the Ellington All Stars. He was the pianist for the day, performing Ellington tune after tune. Of course, he didn’t KNOW he was to perform with other band in addition to performing his “special” solo tunes, so it was a good thing he knew so many tunes off the top of his head!!!!!! Matt even sang the lyrics to two Ellington tunes as he played because the lyrics were so terrific…
When Matt performed with other musicians that day, the group was comprised of Manny Duran on trumpet, Danny Zanker on bass, and Sam “Gracious” Gresham on drums. Victor Jones (the head of the Ellington All-Stars) sat in on drums for one tune.
Matt loved the Ellington immersion…both playing Duke’s music and watching films about him. It was an honor and a pleasure for him to also introduce tunes no one had previously heard that were written by Duke. After the day’s events, there was a party for the folks involved in the Ellington Celebration as well as for every other jazz musician in NY. The who’s who of people at the party went on and on….Victor Jones (and many of the Ellington All-Stars musicians), Barry Altschul (Chick Corea’s former drummer), Manny Duran, Hayes Greenfield, Jack Jeffers and about a dozen other people whose names I don’t know. Every instrument was represented in multiple, and the result was 20-minute-long jams per tune as each person soloed and traded and sidelines were spontaneously followed. At one point I think there were at least a dozen people playing. Matt was in absolute heaven!!! He was the pianist for the night, or at least as long as he could stay awake. We left the party around 11 PM, and Matt was sorry to leave. He knew he was too tired to stay longer, however. He STILL talks about the performance at MoMA and the “perfect” jam session and looks forward to playing with NY musicians again.
Matt will always remember Ellington’s birthday, but he will especially remember the birthday celebration of 2006, his celebrating in NY by performing at MoMA and jamming with the best of musicians. Thank you must go to Gary Keys for making all of this possible for Matt. He gave him the opportunity to honor Duke Ellington and to spread his own musical wings with some of the great musicians he admires.
|
