Mitchell, Matt

(photo by Colin Lenton)

Primary Scene: Brooklyn/New York

Matt Mitchell is a pianist and composer interested in the intersections of various strains of acoustic, electric, composed, and improvised new music. He has lived in Philadelphia since 1999 and performs regularly in New York City, throughout the United States and around the world. His album Fiction was released in 2013 on Pi Recordings; it features 15 of his compositions performed in duo with Ches Smith. Other ensembles he leads or co-leads include the Matt Mitchell Quartet with Chris Speed, Chris Tordini, Dan Weiss, the duo Fourth Floor with Dan Weiss, and Normal Remarkable Persons with Tim Berne, Herb Robertson, Shane Endsley, Travis Laplante, Tyshawn Sorey, Ches Smith, and Dan Weiss. He is a member of Tim Berne’s Snakeoil, the Dave Douglas Quintet, John Hollenbeck’s Large Ensemble, Rudresh Mahanthappa’s Bird Project, the Darius Jones Quartet, the Kate Gentile Trio, Mario Pavone’s Blue Dialect Trio, Michael Attias’ Spun Tree, and Quinsin Nachoff’s Flux.

Musicians with whom he performs and has performed include John Hollenbeck’s Claudia Quintet + 1, Rudresh Mahanthappa and Bunky Green’s Apex, Rez Abbasi’s Invocation, Ben Perowsky, Dave King, Marc Ducret, David Torn, Linda Oh, Rudy Royston, Donny McCaslin, Brad Shepik, Ralph Alessi, Bobby Zankel, John Swana, and Darcy James Argue’s Secret Society. As an educator he has taught extensively with the Brooklyn-based School for Improvisational Music, as well as at the New School and NYU. He is a 2012 recipient of a Pew Fellowship from the Pew Center for Arts and Heritage.