RED REFLECTIONS
1 Red Reflections
2 Kuumbwa Blues
3 Like a River
4 Sketch
5 The Outlaw
6 Myth of the Rainy Night
7 Take a Walk
2 Kuumbwa Blues
3 Like a River
4 Sketch
5 The Outlaw
6 Myth of the Rainy Night
7 Take a Walk
APPLE MUSIC | SPOTIFY | AMAZON | BANDCAMP
PERSONNEL
Dmitri Matheny, flugelhorn; Dave Ellis, Rob Scheps, tenor saxophone; John Heller, guitar; Trevor Dunn, Bill Douglass, bass; Scott Amendola, Alan Jones, drums; Ian Dogole, Nigerian udu. Recorded June 1994, and March, April and August 1995, at Banquet Sound Studios, Santa Rosa, California. Produced by Ian Dogole. Recording engineer Warren Dennis Khan. Mastered by George Horn at Fantasy Records. Art direction and design by Rex Ray. Photography by Adrian Ordeanana.
DESCRIPTION
Dmitri Matheny's 1995 debut CD showcases the flugelhornist in his 20s, performing original compositions and classics by Horace Silver and Michael Brecker. The CD ranked in the national Gavin Top 40 and the CMJ (College) jazz radio charts, and was hailed by critics in JazzIz Magazine as one of the Top 10 Recordings of 1995. “The debut CD of flugelhorn player Dmitri Matheny is an intricate, colorful, slowly whirling vortex that draws you in deeper with each listen. Smooth yet always intense, no matter what mood or tempo.” —Mike Ervin, JazzIz
REVIEWS
Dmitri Matheny's recording career got off to an impressive start with his highly introspective debut album, Red Reflections. One can hear the influence of Chet Baker, Art Farmer and Miles Davis in Matheny's playing, but while the flugelhornist clearly admires their lyricism, it's also obvious that he's very much his own man. Except for Michael Brecker's "Take a Walk" and Horace Silver's "The Outlaw," Red Reflections emphasizes Matheny's own compositions, which include the complex "Myth of the Rainy Night," the contemplative "Like a River," and the evocative title song. Another high point of this pianoless date is "Sketch," an impressionistic, cerebral number that recalls Davis' mid-1960s output. This is an excellent album that is as cerebral as it is rewarding.
—Alex Henderson, All About Jazz
The first notes of this jazz debut, Red Reflections, drift up and curl in the air like smoke from a cigarette on the edge of an ashtray in some swank watering hole. They hang momentarily and then dissipate, leaving only memory traces in a void soon filled by another magical wisp. The evocative tones emanate from the flugelhorn of Dmitri Matheny, a San Francisco transplant stepping forward as one of the most eloquent musical voices in the gradually evolving mainstream of jazz. A young player with impressive academic degrees, awards, and commissions, Matheny makes feeling—from noir moods to unfettered delight—the primary source of his reflections.
—Derk Richardson, San Francisco Bay Guardian
Bay Area Best! Red Reflections, jazz flugelhornist Dmitri Matheny's maiden offering as a leader, is a lovely collection of tunes in the cool jazz tradition of the late, great Miles Davis' Kind of Blue and of Matheny's mentor, Art Farmer. These moody tunes, mostly composed by Matheny himself (he also covers pieces by Horace Silver and Michael Brecker) are musical tone poems far more affecting than the usual fusion static. Recommended.
—San Francisco Examiner Magazine
We like the cool tones of flugelhornist Matheny's new release Red Reflections, and we're not alone. The disc has drawn praise from Art Farmer, perhaps the reigning master of jazz flugelhorn.
—Los Angeles Weekly
Matheny’s approach to the flugelhorn is lyrical, lean and often lithe, and his varied compositions are open to myriad possibilities. The tunes groove mightily and the players are clearly listening to each other, evident by the ensemble interaction and the various ways they key off of each other’s solos...the group is long on sound and spirit.
—Jim Ferguson, JazzTimes
The debut CD of flugelhorn player Dmitri Matheny is an intricate, colorful, slowly whirling vortex that draws you in deeper with each listening. The entire CD is steeped in the shadowy mood of a rain slicked city street at night. The five original songs on Red Reflections show him to be a major talent as a composer.
—Mike Ervin, JazzIz
Say you're a thirty-year-old flugelhorn player, and Art Farmer, the legendary master of the big horn, says your debut release "sounds so good I wish I'd made it myself." You must might have to pinch yourself. Red Reflections, the excellent debut from Dmitri Matheny, has a little bit of everything, from a serene, floating calypso reminiscent of Tony Williams' "Sister Cheryl" to burning bebop, a mid-tempo Horace Silver tune, a free association mosaic, film noir ballads, and a strutting Michael Brecker number.
—Jason Olaine, The Gavin Report
After training under the eminent flugelhornist Art Farmer, renown has come for Matheny with the release of his debut CD, a collection of "sound paintings in jazz" that not only showcases Matheny's sculptural performance but also many of his own compositions. Red Reflections has quickly become one of the best selling releases on the Monarch label and has been praised by some as "the best jazz title of the year.
—Benny Villalobos, Albuquerque Alibi
—Alex Henderson, All About Jazz
The first notes of this jazz debut, Red Reflections, drift up and curl in the air like smoke from a cigarette on the edge of an ashtray in some swank watering hole. They hang momentarily and then dissipate, leaving only memory traces in a void soon filled by another magical wisp. The evocative tones emanate from the flugelhorn of Dmitri Matheny, a San Francisco transplant stepping forward as one of the most eloquent musical voices in the gradually evolving mainstream of jazz. A young player with impressive academic degrees, awards, and commissions, Matheny makes feeling—from noir moods to unfettered delight—the primary source of his reflections.
—Derk Richardson, San Francisco Bay Guardian
Bay Area Best! Red Reflections, jazz flugelhornist Dmitri Matheny's maiden offering as a leader, is a lovely collection of tunes in the cool jazz tradition of the late, great Miles Davis' Kind of Blue and of Matheny's mentor, Art Farmer. These moody tunes, mostly composed by Matheny himself (he also covers pieces by Horace Silver and Michael Brecker) are musical tone poems far more affecting than the usual fusion static. Recommended.
—San Francisco Examiner Magazine
We like the cool tones of flugelhornist Matheny's new release Red Reflections, and we're not alone. The disc has drawn praise from Art Farmer, perhaps the reigning master of jazz flugelhorn.
—Los Angeles Weekly
Matheny’s approach to the flugelhorn is lyrical, lean and often lithe, and his varied compositions are open to myriad possibilities. The tunes groove mightily and the players are clearly listening to each other, evident by the ensemble interaction and the various ways they key off of each other’s solos...the group is long on sound and spirit.
—Jim Ferguson, JazzTimes
The debut CD of flugelhorn player Dmitri Matheny is an intricate, colorful, slowly whirling vortex that draws you in deeper with each listening. The entire CD is steeped in the shadowy mood of a rain slicked city street at night. The five original songs on Red Reflections show him to be a major talent as a composer.
—Mike Ervin, JazzIz
Say you're a thirty-year-old flugelhorn player, and Art Farmer, the legendary master of the big horn, says your debut release "sounds so good I wish I'd made it myself." You must might have to pinch yourself. Red Reflections, the excellent debut from Dmitri Matheny, has a little bit of everything, from a serene, floating calypso reminiscent of Tony Williams' "Sister Cheryl" to burning bebop, a mid-tempo Horace Silver tune, a free association mosaic, film noir ballads, and a strutting Michael Brecker number.
—Jason Olaine, The Gavin Report
After training under the eminent flugelhornist Art Farmer, renown has come for Matheny with the release of his debut CD, a collection of "sound paintings in jazz" that not only showcases Matheny's sculptural performance but also many of his own compositions. Red Reflections has quickly become one of the best selling releases on the Monarch label and has been praised by some as "the best jazz title of the year.
—Benny Villalobos, Albuquerque Alibi