Mat Muntz is a composer, bassist, and improviser based in Brooklyn, NY. Mat’s work encompasses a wide range of musical idioms, from jazz and avant-garde improvisation to traditional music from India, East Asia, and the Balkans. He graduated from Manhattan School of Music in 2016 and has performed across North America, Europe, and China, including Carnegie Hall, the Kennedy Center, Jazz Standard, Blue Note Beijing, and the Umbria Jazz Festival. His compositions have been premiered at The Shed and the Imani Winds Chamber Music Festival in New York. A central aspect of Mat’s practice is the integration of traditional, experimental, and improvisational forms - most actively explored in his work with the collaborative ensemble The Vex Collection. Co-led with composer and percussionist Vicente Hansen, the ensemble has been commissioned by The Shed and Brooklyn Arts Council, and features traditional Korean, Scottish, and Croatian double-reeds alongside newly developed experimental wind instruments. In addition to double bass, Mat has studied primorski meh - a traditional Croatian bagpipe. Since 2019, Mat has been working to develop a new technical vocabulary for this instrument in order to draw on the full range of its unique pitch and timbral characteristics.
Chordless saxophone trio has always been one of my favorite band formats as both a player and listener. Compared to piano trio or quartet, there’s a great deal of clarity, flexibility, and equality between the players, allowing for subtle as well as dramatic shifts in energy and texture to be made on a dime. The
Citadels and Sanctuaries, the latest release from clarinetist and composer Jeremiah Cymerman, is a reflection on and tribute to the influence of 10 of Cymerman’s musical heroes. It is also, according to its liner notes, Cymerman’s “most accessible record to date,” which may come as surprise when reading the list of artists paid tribute here.
Guitarist and composer Jessica Ackerley has been a compelling, distinctive, and dedicated contributor to various New York creative music scenes since her arrival in 2013. Employing an inclusive aesthetic and a strong collaborative drive, Ackerley has produced an impressive output of recordings spanning jazz, improvised music, experimental rock, and noise. Throughout this wide traversal of
Jason Nazary’s June 25 release Spring Collection is one of many home recording projects undertaken around the world during the course of the Covid-19 pandemic and lockdown. In the drummer/composer’s own words, the record’s aim “was to capture the spirit of spontaneity and collaboration lost in the absence of live music.” Nazary accomplishes this aim
Ocelot is a collaborative trio featuring pianist Cat Toren, saxophonist/clarinetist Yuma Uesaka, and drummer/percussionist Colin Hinton. Their music is part of the increasingly prominent tradition of cross-pollination between jazz and 20th-21st century classical music, exemplified by composer-performers such as Tyshawn Sorey and Anna Webber. Though all three members of Ocelot are composers with distinct voices,
Mutual aid — a term coined by the Russian anarcho-communist Peter Kropotkin in 1902 — refers to systems of social organization based on reciprocity and cooperation rather than competition. Though such systems are old enough to arguably predate human society, mutual aid has gained considerable visibility in the ongoing pandemic. As the capacity of state
The more I listen to BRAHJA, the harder I find it to describe. Its musical atmosphere is dark, mystical, and intricate, like a visionary ritual crossed with film noir. The band’s forces combine to form a tempered maximalism, recalling other masterpieces of jazz composition, ensemble playing, and production, such as Charles Mingus’ Black Saint and
The Underflow is a relatively new trio formed by veteran improvisers Mats Gustafsson, David Grubbs, and Rob Mazurek in 2019. Their self-titled debut, recorded live in Athens at their first performance as a trio, has been followed up by Instant Opaque Evening, also recorded live during a string of European shows in early 2020. Instant
In improvised music, the smallest moments can make or break an entire piece. Whether a satisfying payoff that legitimizes a meandering, ponderous development or a slight misstep that shatters an immaculately constructed soundscape, a few seconds of music is often all it takes to define the listening experience as a whole. On the newly released Brisk
One of the things I’ve always admired about alto saxophonist Tim Berne is his ability to always seem ahead of the curve. I remember first checking out his early discography, hearing compositions that resembled things I may have heard from a group at I-Beam the night before, then checking the liner notes and realizing that
