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To see the new website,
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Who
is Matthew Garrison
Matthew
Garrison was born June 2, 1970 in New York. Here he
spent the first eight years of his life immersed in
a community of musicians, dancers, visual artists
and poets. After the death of his father Jimmy
Garrison (John Coltrane's bassist), his family
relocated to Rome, Italy where he began to study
piano and bass guitar. In
1988 Matthew returned to the United States and
lived with his godfather Jack Dejohnette for two
years. Here he studied intensively with both
Dejohnette and bassist Dave Holland. In 1989 Matthew received a full scholarship to attend
Berklee College of Music in Boston. Here he began his
professional career with the likes of Gary Burton, Bob
Moses, Betty Carter, Mike Gibbs and Lyle Mays to mention a
few. Matthew
moved to Brooklyn, New York in 1994 and has performed and
recorded with artists such as Joe Zawinul, Joni Mitchell,
Steve Coleman, Pat Metheny, John Mclaughlin, The Gil Evans
Orchestra, John Scofield, Chaka Khan and many others.
In
1998 Matthew founded GarrisonJazz Productions to Produce,
Promote and Market his music. (www.GarrisonJazz.com) His
first solo album
Matt
Garrison released his first solo album the last
October, 15.
Interview
to Matthew Garrison (by Marco Piretti) 1)
Matthew, can you tell us something about the genesis of your
first solo album? Basically
the music presented is a synthesis of a lot of styles,
colors, and cultures that I've had the great fortune of
growing up with. The process of actually putting the
compositions together took about two years and the recording
itself about 9 months. 2)
What were the sources of your inspiration (music genres,
other musicians...)? The
influences range from Art Tatum to Stravinsky, Hermeto
Pascoal to Stevie Wonder, Bulgarian Women's Choir to Earth
Wind And Fire, Square Pusher to Bjork, and so forth. This is
the music and musicians I've been listening to my whole life
and the compositions pretty much reflect those sounds. Many
musicians I've been working with in the past 9 years have
also contributed in one way or the other to this
recording.
3)
What are the other bassplayers who you used as point of
reference for your playing style? Those
who really made me realize the balance of technique,
harmony, and just pure musicality are musicans such as
Dominique DiPiazza, Gary Willis, Dave Holland, Jimmy
Garrison, Jaco Pastorius, Marcus Miller, Stanley Clarke,
John Patitucci and quite a few others. Please remember
that's just in the bass world. 4)
Will your album be distributed in Europe? How to buy
it? At
this point I am the distributor. If people would lik to pick
up a copy all they have to do is visit my web site
www.garrisonjazz.com/ There I will direct you to businesses
that are buying my CD's and reselling them as well as
handling various methods of payment and shipping worldwide.
On the other hand I am in negotiation with a few European
distribution companies and it's just a matter of time before
I have some concrete answers concerning that part of the
question. Please check my web site in the coming weeks for
further details. 5)
Will you be on tour for the album promotion? Also in
Europe? To
begin with my plan is to market and sell the CD for the next
6-9 months or so. In the meanwhile I'll begin booking
seminars and festival dates which should start to take place
by next fall (2001). Europe is definitely on the planning
table for both seminars and concerts. 6)
You dedicated your album to your parents. Your father, Jimmy
Garrison, was the bassplayer of the great John Coltrane.
What do you remember of your childhood? In what way it
influenced your music and your life? Growing
up in that environment was very important in my life. I
didn't know of any other way to live but to live creatively.
My approach to music is always more about feeling a sense of
community and kinship with my fellow musicians and
everything else follows and that belief stems from my
upbringing. I never knew John Coltrane but I am grateful for
the amazing legacy he has left for all of us. Those
formative years have set a very high standard for me and I
try to live up that standard of creative expression through
the good and bad times alike.
7)
Our site is dedicated to Joe Zawinul so... Can you tell
something about your musical and human experience with
Joe? I'm
honored to have been part of one of his bands and I learned
a great deal about certain aspects of making music. I came
to understand very interesting concepts in Joe's approach to
rythm section interaction and subdividing parts to the
different instruments. Very hip approach to the use of
dynamics. On a personal side he's a pretty complex human
being and not such an easy character to get along with. When
I was in the Zawinul Syndicate we definitely had some
moments of high drama and tension. I just figured that's the
way he keeps himself in mental shape on the road. An
approach that I wasn't so keen on and that eventually lead
to my departure from that group.
8)
A last question... You played in this CD with a lot of
musicians who had (directly or not) some relationships with
Zawinul, as Amit Chatterjee, Arto Tuncboyacian, also Scott
Kinsey who is a great keyboardist, a true Zawinul
disciple... What about your experience with
them? I've
known Amit for a long time now and we never had the chance
to actually play so I figured this CD was a good
opportunity. I'm sure there will be more projects in the
future. I've known Scott Kinsey since the days we were both
at Berklee College of Music in Boston. We worked on a few
projects here in there while in school and I became an
immediate fan of his. Such a creative person. Can't wait to
do some more work with him. Arto and I met directly in Joe's
band. I actually had never even heard of him before and he
hadn't heard of me. From the first note we played there was
a connection. Not necessarily a technical connection but
something much deeper. I felt an immediate kinship with him
and this has only grown stronger through the years. It is an
absolute honor to work with him and to be part of his
creative spirit. We all have Joe to thank for bringing us
together in one way or the other. Read
more about Matthew Garrison: Matthew
Garrison official website
Clicca qui per la
versione italiana di questa pagina
GarrisonJazz
"Matthew
Garrison"
The
Matthew Garrison first solo album
To read an English review of it, click
HERE.
Matt
Garrison at Quasimodo, Berlin
Matt
& Jimmy Garrison
Matt
Garrison with the Zawinul Syndicate
(1996)
Review
on allaboutjazz.com
Interview
on allaboutjazz.com