Viewing: Dmitri Matheny Quotes - View all posts
A RESIDENCY IS ALWAYS PREFERABLE
LISTEN MORE DEEPLY
REMEMBERING ART FARMER
13 years ago this week A Celebration of the Musical Life of Art Farmer was held at Saint Peter's Church in New York City. It was a beautiful event at which few words were spoken, but much music was played by people who knew and loved him. Just as he would have liked.
I was honored to be among the musicians who participated: Ron Blake, Todd Coolman, Kenny Davis, Johnny Griffin, Jim Hall, Slide Hampton, Brian Lynch, Joe Magnarelli, Wynton Marsalis, Dmitri Matheny, Lewis Nash, Jimmy Owens, Carline Ray, Rufus Reid, Ted Rosenthal, Don Sickler, Pete LaRoca Sims, Billy Taylor, Michael Weiss, Frank Wess and Joe Wilder.
We miss you, Art.
I was honored to be among the musicians who participated: Ron Blake, Todd Coolman, Kenny Davis, Johnny Griffin, Jim Hall, Slide Hampton, Brian Lynch, Joe Magnarelli, Wynton Marsalis, Dmitri Matheny, Lewis Nash, Jimmy Owens, Carline Ray, Rufus Reid, Ted Rosenthal, Don Sickler, Pete LaRoca Sims, Billy Taylor, Michael Weiss, Frank Wess and Joe Wilder.
We miss you, Art.
MACGUFFINS
AUTODIAGNOSIS
TOTEM
WEAPONS-GRADE EARWORM
FROM THE ARCHIVES
November 1, 1987
New Voice Jazz Sextet
Ryles Inman Square
Cambridge, Massachusetts
Dmitri Matheny, flugelhorn
Mark Gross, alto saxophone
Jack Wright, tenor saxophone
Mitch Hampton, piano
Peter Herbert, bass
Hans Schuman, drums
November 1, 1995
Windplayer Magazine
Your Most Difficult Playing Situation
By P. Helou
Dmitri Matheny has played on stage, on different occasions, with the Temptations, Fabian, Martha Reeves and Sam Rivers...more
November 1, 1998
All About Jazz
Dmitri Matheny: Starlight Café
By Jim Santella
Recorded live at La Note Café and Restaurant Provencal in Berkeley, California earlier this year, Dmitri Matheny’s third album...more
November 1, 1998
All About Jazz
Dmitri Matheny: Starlight Café
By Joel Roberts
Already tabbed a "Talent Deserving Wider Recognition" in the 1998 Down Beat Critics Poll, flugelhornist Dmitri Matheny seems on the verge of establishing himself as a major new jazz star...more
November 1, 1999
Public Radio International
Interview with Dmitri Matheny
By Lauren Craft
Dmitri Matheny was virtually unknown when his first album was released five years ago, but in a matter of weeks he was topping the jazz radio charts and selling out concert halls from New York to Warsaw...more
November 1, 2003
Amina Figarova International Band
Cultureel Café Bacchus
Aalsmeer, the Netherlands
Amina Figarova, piano
Bart Platteau, flutes
Dmitri Matheny, flugelhorn
Ruth Davies, bass
Chris Strik, drums
New Voice Jazz Sextet
Ryles Inman Square
Cambridge, Massachusetts
Dmitri Matheny, flugelhorn
Mark Gross, alto saxophone
Jack Wright, tenor saxophone
Mitch Hampton, piano
Peter Herbert, bass
Hans Schuman, drums
November 1, 1995
Windplayer Magazine
Your Most Difficult Playing Situation
By P. Helou
Dmitri Matheny has played on stage, on different occasions, with the Temptations, Fabian, Martha Reeves and Sam Rivers...more
November 1, 1998
All About Jazz
Dmitri Matheny: Starlight Café
By Jim Santella
Recorded live at La Note Café and Restaurant Provencal in Berkeley, California earlier this year, Dmitri Matheny’s third album...more
November 1, 1998
All About Jazz
Dmitri Matheny: Starlight Café
By Joel Roberts
Already tabbed a "Talent Deserving Wider Recognition" in the 1998 Down Beat Critics Poll, flugelhornist Dmitri Matheny seems on the verge of establishing himself as a major new jazz star...more
November 1, 1999
Public Radio International
Interview with Dmitri Matheny
By Lauren Craft
Dmitri Matheny was virtually unknown when his first album was released five years ago, but in a matter of weeks he was topping the jazz radio charts and selling out concert halls from New York to Warsaw...more
November 1, 2003
Amina Figarova International Band
Cultureel Café Bacchus
Aalsmeer, the Netherlands
Amina Figarova, piano
Bart Platteau, flutes
Dmitri Matheny, flugelhorn
Ruth Davies, bass
Chris Strik, drums
IN THE NEWS
Arizona Daily Star
October 25, 2012
Jazz Noir Inspired By Crime Shows
By Chuck Graham
Known for his warm tone, soaring lyricism and masterful technique, flugelhorn artist Dmitri Matheny will go searching for poignant moments of jazz noir...more
Explorer News
October 25, 2012
Dmitri Matheny at Tohono Chul Park
Inspired by espionage and underworld movie music, Dmitri Matheny’s “Crime Scenes”...more
Tucson Weekly
October 24, 2012
Sax Under A Streetlight: Crime Scenes | Jazz Noir With Dmitri Matheny
By Mariana Dale
As a teenager living in Tucson in the late 1970s, it was hard to nurture dreams...more
IN THE NEWS
October 25, 2012
Arizona Daily Star
Jazz Noir Inspired By Crime Shows
By Chuck Graham
"Crime Scenes" will be the centerpiece of Dmitri Matheny's concert Friday at Tohono Chul...more
Arizona Daily Star
Jazz Noir Inspired By Crime Shows
By Chuck Graham
"Crime Scenes" will be the centerpiece of Dmitri Matheny's concert Friday at Tohono Chul...more
IN THE NEWS
Tucson Weekly
October 24, 2012
Sax Under A Streetlight: Crime Scenes | Jazz Noir With Dmitri Matheny
By Mariana Dale
As a teenager living in Tucson in the late 1970s, it was hard to nurture dreams of becoming a jazz musician...more
October 24, 2012
Sax Under A Streetlight: Crime Scenes | Jazz Noir With Dmitri Matheny
By Mariana Dale
As a teenager living in Tucson in the late 1970s, it was hard to nurture dreams of becoming a jazz musician...more
ADVICE TO SELF AT MIDLIFE
I WANT TO BELIEVE
I've been following the story of Dutch engineer Jarmo Smeets, who claims to have cracked the code on how to fly like a bird.
Inventors since Leonardo have been trying to do this. We've been able to create wings for gliding at high altitude, but the engineering challenge has been that if you make the wings large enough to support the weight of a person, no human being is strong enough—or can flap his arms fast enough—to achieve lift-off.
Smeets says that his breakthrough is using the motion detector from a Nintendo Wii to power small rotors, so that only short, brisk movements of his arms are necessary to power the flapping of the wings. With a running start, he says, he and his wings can take flight.
His YouTube videos are impressive.
The science community, however, is skeptical about the videos. Apparently Smeets' alleged credentials don't check out, either.
Too bad.
As someone who has dreamed of flying nearly every night since childhood, I want so badly to believe that this is possible!
~DM
CITIZEN OF THE WORLD
JAZZ & AGING
TECHNO-GRATITUDE
Today I was able to re-connect with several clients and friends, learn Art Farmer's solo on "The Squirrel," check out Donny McCaslin's set @jazzbaltica, study a new twist on a favorite business practice, admire some beautiful photos, peruse the amazing reading list of @Art_Garfunkel, listen to a cool BBC interview with @Jimmy Cobb, read @JasonDCrane's latest poem, and watch a classic Star Trek episode -- all without leaving my solitary bunker in the lonesome desert. Thanks, Internet!
FROM THE ARCHIVES
On This Day
August 1, 1997
United Press International
Dmitri Matheny Looks Up for Inspiration
By Ken Franckling
The art of playing ballads seemed lost for a time...[more]
August 1, 1997
Cadence
Dmitri Matheny's Penumbra: The Moon Sessions
By Stuart Kremsky
Dmitri Matheny concentrates on the moody...[more]
August 1, 1999
Albuquerque Journal
Flugelhorn Player Focuses on Melody
By David Steinberg
Flugelhorn player Dmitri Matheny insists...[more]
August 1, 1999
Albuquerque Tribune
Matheny's Hard Work Produces Silky Jazz
By Tracy Mobley-Martinez
First, put aside your guilt...[more]
August 1, 2001
Grant & Matheny @ North Beach Jazz Festival
Shrine of St. Francis of Assisi, North Beach
San Francisco, California
Photo by Scott Chernis
August 1, 2005
Dmitri Matheny Group @ Invisible Theatre's
Sizzling Summer Sounds at the Arizona Inn
Tucson, Arizona
August 1, 1997
United Press International
Dmitri Matheny Looks Up for Inspiration
By Ken Franckling
The art of playing ballads seemed lost for a time...[more]
August 1, 1997
Cadence
Dmitri Matheny's Penumbra: The Moon Sessions
By Stuart Kremsky
Dmitri Matheny concentrates on the moody...[more]
August 1, 1999
Albuquerque Journal
Flugelhorn Player Focuses on Melody
By David Steinberg
Flugelhorn player Dmitri Matheny insists...[more]
August 1, 1999
Albuquerque Tribune
Matheny's Hard Work Produces Silky Jazz
By Tracy Mobley-Martinez
First, put aside your guilt...[more]
August 1, 2001
Grant & Matheny @ North Beach Jazz Festival
Shrine of St. Francis of Assisi, North Beach
San Francisco, California
Photo by Scott Chernis
August 1, 2005
Dmitri Matheny Group @ Invisible Theatre's
Sizzling Summer Sounds at the Arizona Inn
Tucson, Arizona
NECESSARY MINUTIA
FROM THE ARCHIVES
On This Day
July 5, 1996
Palo Alto Weekly
Monarch Artists Fly High
Small West Coast record label has some giants of jazz,
and they're coming to the Stanford Jazz Workshop
By Jim Harrington
July 5, 1996
Palo Alto Weekly
Monarch Artists Fly High
Small West Coast record label has some giants of jazz,
and they're coming to the Stanford Jazz Workshop
By Jim Harrington
Monarch Records will be well represented at the 24th annual Stanford Jazz Workshop festivities. The small, San Francisco-based label was co-founded about two years ago by Palo Alto resident Steve Hall. It's a specialty operation that focuses on the recordings of West Coast jazz artists.
"We believe that there is a real wealth of jazz artists, particularly in Northern California," said Dmitri Matheny...[more]
"We believe that there is a real wealth of jazz artists, particularly in Northern California," said Dmitri Matheny...[more]
HEROES
When I begin to feel frustrated by encroaching banality and mediocrity,
it often helps to contemplate those heroic figures who inspire.
Here are some of them:
William Adama
Douglas Adams
Josef Albers
Muhammad Ali
Louis Armstrong
Paul Atreides
Johann Sebastian Bach
Burt Bacharach
Chet Baker
Maria Bamford
Basho
The Batman
Ludwig van Beethoven
Bill Bell
Irving Berlin
Leonard Bernstein
Wendell Berry
Brian Blade
Eubie Blake
James Bond
Anthony Bourdain
Lester Bowie
Ray Bradbury
Johannes Brahms
Clifford Brown
James Brown
Joseph Campbell
George Carlin
Hoagy Carmichael
Carmine Caruso
Johnny Cash
Tony Cennamo
Marc Chagall
Raymond Chandler
Don Cheadle
Doc Cheatham
Louis CK
Patsy Cline
Jimmy Cobb
Leonard Cohen
Ornette Coleman
John Coltrane
Frank Columbo
Sarah Connor
Paolo Conte
Silvio Dante
Dave the Philosopher
Miles Davis
Philip K. Dick
Emily Dickinson
Eihei Dogen
Nick Drake
Tyler Durden
Lawrence Durrell
Clint Eastwood
Eeyore
Harry "Sweets" Edison
T. S. Eliot
Duke Ellington
Ralph Waldo Emerson
Bill Evans
Art Farmer
Felix the Cat
Boba Fett
Atticus Finch
Ella Fitzgerald
Aretha Franklin
Benjamin Franklin
Lester Freamon
Morgan Freeman
Robert Frost
Hal Galper
Mohandas Gandhi
Paul Gauguin
Marvin Gaye
Theodor Seuss Geisel
Stan Getz
Kahlil Gibran
Raylan Givens
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
Darrell Grant
Green Lantern
Christopher Guest
Charlie Haden
Hafiz
Herbie Hancock
Harold (& The Purple Crayon)
Tom Harrell
Robert A. Heinlein
Ernest Hemingway
Joe Henderson
Jimi Hendrix
Bernard Herrmann
Bill Hicks
Alfred Hitchcock
Hit Girl
Billie Holiday
Lena Horne
Aldous Huxley
Icarus
William James
Keith Jarrett
Quincy Jones
James Joyce
Will Kane
Orrin Keepnews
John F. Kennedy
Jack Kerouac
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
Evel Knievel
Ray Kurzweil
Tyrion Lannister
Bruce Lee
Stan Lee
John Lennon
Abbey Lincoln
Booker Little
David Lynch
Joseph Maddy
Gustav Mahler
Louis Malle
Nelson Mandela
Thomas Mann
Frank Marocco
Marc Maron
Abraham Maslow
Bill Matheny
Henri Matisse
Carson McCullers
Mr. McFeely
Marian McPartland
Edna St. Vincent Millay
Arthur Miller
Henry Miller
Bryan Mills
Joni Mitchell
Thelonious Monk
James Moody
Morpheus
Eddie Muller
Gerry Mulligan
Will Munny
Anne-Sophie Mutter
Willie Nelson
Pablo Neruda
Mary Oliver
Charlie Parker
Sam Pate
Nicholas Payton
Astor Piazolla
Pablo Picasso
Herb Pomeroy
Alexander Pushkin
Prometheus
Samuel Ramey
Christopher Reeve
Rainer Maria Rilke
James Rockford
Gene Roddenberry
Will Rogers
Sonny Rollins
Franklin D. Roosevelt
Mark Rothko
Bertrand Russell
Ryōkan
Lisbeth Salander
May Sarton
Lalo Schifrin
Maurice Sendak
Rod Serling
Woody Shaw
Jack Sheldon
Wayne Shorter
Frank Sinatra
Derek Sivers
Allen Smith
Mr. Spock
Mary Stallings
Wallace Stevens
Detective Mike Stone
Igor Stravinsky
Chesley "Sully" Sullenberger III
Shunryu Suzuki
Andrei Tarkovsky
Donna Tartt
Clark Terry
Henry David Thoreau
J. R. R. Tolkien
Leo Tolstoy
Desmond Tutu
Mark Twain
Lao Tzu
Morihei Ueshiba
Ultraman
John Updike
Vincent Van Gogh
Ack Van Rooyen
Kurt Vonnegut
Tom Waits
Ben Webster
Simone Weil
Orson Welles
Kenny Werner
Kenny Wheeler
Walt Whitman
Oscar Wilde
Nancy Wilson
Stevie Wonder
Lester Young
HAPPY 50th ANNIVERSARY
Happy 50th Anniversary to the Incredible Hulk, the Amazing Spider-Man,
the Mighty Thor and the Invincible Iron Man, all created in 1962
by Stan Lee, Jack Kirby, Steve Ditko, Dick Ayers,
Don Heck and Larry Lieber.
You four were among my favorite babysitters when I was a kid.
I never dreamed you'd all become movie stars in my adulthood!
Good for you.
GETTING IT RIGHT
Today I'm grateful to all those wonderful concert promoters and talent buyers who, over the years, have engaged us based on our professional reputations and the quality of our music.
Thank you for making our careers possible.
When you loved our performances and promised to have us back again, thank you for following through.
When you chose not to engage us, whatever the reason, thank you for having the courage to say so directly, rather than wasting our time with vague reassurances. Thank you for understanding that interminable delay is truly the deadliest form of denial.
Thank you for getting to know us. Thank you for listening to our demo tapes and CDs, checking out our shows at other venues, watching our video clips, reviewing our biographical and promotional materials, and following our artistic evolution.
Thank you for understanding that it is, in fact, your job to know about us, and when you aren't familiar, to learn about us. Thank you for acknowledging that it's our job to keep you updated. Thank you for recognizing that both our roles are necessary, and for begrudging neither necessity.
Thank you for promptly returning our phone calls and answering our emails.
Thank you for treating us with respect and common decency.
Thank you for negotiating with us and our agents in good faith, and for abiding by the terms of our agreements.
Thank you for taking care of all the extra-musical details so that we may do our best work on stage.
Thank you for getting it right.
And most of all, thank you for teaching this very important skill set to the next generation of concert promoters and talent buyers, just as we take it upon ourselves to mentor the next generation of aspiring musicians.
—DM
Thank you for making our careers possible.
When you loved our performances and promised to have us back again, thank you for following through.
When you chose not to engage us, whatever the reason, thank you for having the courage to say so directly, rather than wasting our time with vague reassurances. Thank you for understanding that interminable delay is truly the deadliest form of denial.
Thank you for getting to know us. Thank you for listening to our demo tapes and CDs, checking out our shows at other venues, watching our video clips, reviewing our biographical and promotional materials, and following our artistic evolution.
Thank you for understanding that it is, in fact, your job to know about us, and when you aren't familiar, to learn about us. Thank you for acknowledging that it's our job to keep you updated. Thank you for recognizing that both our roles are necessary, and for begrudging neither necessity.
Thank you for promptly returning our phone calls and answering our emails.
Thank you for treating us with respect and common decency.
Thank you for negotiating with us and our agents in good faith, and for abiding by the terms of our agreements.
Thank you for taking care of all the extra-musical details so that we may do our best work on stage.
Thank you for getting it right.
And most of all, thank you for teaching this very important skill set to the next generation of concert promoters and talent buyers, just as we take it upon ourselves to mentor the next generation of aspiring musicians.
—DM
FROM THE ARCHIVES
JAZZ IMPROV MAGAZINE
July 2004
Interview With Dmitri Matheny
JI: Tell us about growing up in Tennessee, Georgia and Arizona and the kinds of encouragement, surroundings, experiences and attitudes that provided the foundation for your career pursuits.
DM: The south is a beautiful, soulful place, despite deeply entrenched racial and class tensions. People smile at you and look you in the eye. Neighbors know one another...[continued]
July 2004
Interview With Dmitri Matheny
JI: Tell us about growing up in Tennessee, Georgia and Arizona and the kinds of encouragement, surroundings, experiences and attitudes that provided the foundation for your career pursuits.
DM: The south is a beautiful, soulful place, despite deeply entrenched racial and class tensions. People smile at you and look you in the eye. Neighbors know one another...[continued]
SOUND THE CALL
Here are two photos of yours truly performing with the Interlochen Arts Academy jazz ensemble, taken nearly 30 years apart.
The top image is from our final "stud orch" concert at Interlochen's Corson Auditorium in Fall 1984. The bottom is from the academy's 50th anniversary tour to San Francisco's Kanbar Hall in Spring 2012.
Hard to believe that's the same person! (Even the horn has grown fat...)