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DMITRI MATHENY

  • NEWS
  • ABOUT
    • Bio
    • Awards
    • DMG
    • Beleza!
    • Horn
    • Commissions
  • MUSIC
    • DM Radio
  • EDUCATION
    • Lessons
    • Classes
    • Workshops
  • TOUR
    • Tour Support
    • Touring History
  • BLOG
  • MEDIA
    • Radio
    • Videos
    • Press Kit
    • Reviews
    • Interviews
    • Newsletters
    • Quotes
  • DISCOGRAPHY
    • 2022 Cascadia
    • 2016 Jazz Noir
    • 2014 Sagebrush Rebellion
    • 2010 Grant & Matheny
    • 2008 Best of Dmitri Matheny
    • 2007 Spiritu Sancto
    • 2006 The SnowCat
    • 2005 Nocturne
    • 2000 Santa's Got a Brand New Bag
    • 1998 Starlight Cafe
    • 1996 Penumbra
    • 1995 Red Reflections
  • SHOP
  • CONTACT

Viewing: Encouragement - View all posts

CELEBRATE CASCADIA!

TRAVELOGUE DAY 1


Destination: Yreka CA 

Distance: 413 miles 

Scout and I are hitting the road today for California, Arizona, and New Mexico.

The first leg of our journey will take us all the way from Centralia, Washington to Yreka…

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THE OWL CLUB PART 4 — SWEETS


“I hide in plain sight. 
Same as you.” 

—Gustavo Fring 


I’m not a superstitious person by nature, but I was raised in the south where even educated folks recognize the power of signs and omens. Charlie’s gift of a…

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RENEWAL

Unhindered one may walk this good earth 

and see it’s bounty of living things 

One may find heaven 

wherever there is beauty 

All superfluous things are gone 

Simplicity itself remains 

and grows and gains 

…Read more

UNTETHERED

“Untethered.” 

That’s the best word I could find to express the particular brand of loss that consumed me after my father died. 

I wasn’t in mourning so much as weary and resigned to the cruel finality of mortality…

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COURSE CORRECTION

A man’s reach should exceed his grasp, or what’s heaven for? 
—Robert Browning 

About a year ago I wrote an obituary for my father. 

I sorted through his letters and personal papers, created a list of his educational…

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RESOLUTIONS 2022 | The Year of CASCADIA

 


Health 

Recommit to OMAD, black coffee, and portion control. 
Plant new salad vegetables in the garden. 
Walk every day before the evening meal. 
Curtail alcohol consumption. 
Prioritize memory work. 

Music 
Perform mostly songs from the new album. 
Expand…

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2021 BY THE NUMBERS

Well my friends, it may take several years before we can return to pre-pandemic levels of activity. But little-by-little we’re getting back to business, ever grateful for the clients, customers, friends and fans who sustain us. This year we: 
 

…

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THE SECRET


When I first met my hero Art Farmer, he was spending half his year at home in Vienna and the other half on tour.

Occasionally concert promoters would pony up for his New York band, but most of the…

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KINKAKU-JI

“The foundation of any national character is human nature.”
―Vasily Grossman
 

Of all the many magical places I’ve encountered in my travels, Kinkaku-ji, Kyoto’s Temple of the Golden Pavilion, is one of the most magnificent. Set…

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SNAPSHOTS | PART 1 — LEAVING

Childhood memories are like polaroid photos in an old dusty box. 

They don’t provide a cohesive autobiographical narrative, only brief flashes of insight into the murky past. You sort through the random images, shuffling them like playing cards, until…

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UP IN THE AIR | PART 1 — JOURNEY PROUD


“There’s no sensation to compare with this 
suspended animation, a state of bliss. 
Can
’t keep my mind from the circling sky. 
Tongue tied and twisted, just

an earthbound misfit, I.”
—Pink Floyd

 

I’m not sure when…

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SAVE OUR STAGES

All the world’s a stage, 
and all the men and women merely players. 
They have their exits and their entrances, 
and one man in his time plays many parts.
 
—William Shakespeare 


Don’t it always seem to go 
that you
…

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MY THREE DEMONS

“One day, you’ll make peace with your demons, 
and the chaos in your heart will settle flat. 
And maybe for the first time in your life, 
life will smile right back at you and 
welcome you home.” 

—Robert M. Drake 

…Read more

HIGH ANXIETY

“It’s not just about me and my dream
of doing nothing. It
’s about all of us!”

—Peter Gibbons

“Now is the age of anxiety.”
—W.H. Auden 

“Don’t make me dance.”…

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THE HUNKER BUNKER REPORT | PART 5 — THE ROAD AHEAD


“Adulthood and what they call maturity is 
the slow acceptance of what you will never be.” 
—Bryan Callen 


“Maybe it’s time to let the old ways die.” 
—Jason Isbell 


As of today, about 71 million Americans have been…

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THE HUNKER BUNKER REPORT | PART 4 — WHAT I LEARNED IN LOCKDOWN

“Honor the space between no longer and not yet.” 
—Nancy Levin 

“COVID-19 has taught us that life and health are precarious. 
We must not squander precious time.” 

—Tom Hanks 

This series of missives from the hunker bunker offer…

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THE HUNKER BUNKER REPORT | PART 3 — MENTAL HEALTH & SOCIAL CONNECTION


“I enjoyed the time out! I loved the fact that nobody had to achieve anything. 
And the light at the end of the tunnel is stressing me out.” 

—Neal Brennan 
 

After a full year of hunkering down and hiding…

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THE HUNKER BUNKER REPORT | PART 1 — PHYSICAL HEALTH

One year ago this week, the World Health Organization declared COVID-19 a global pandemic and we began sheltering in place. 

I took the warnings seriously, even though staying home meant figuring out how to pay the bills while simultaneously…

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JAZZ COMPETITION IS AN OXYMORON

Damien Chazelle’s 2014 film Whiplash follows the fraught relationship between a brutally masochistic music teacher, Fletcher (J.K Simmons), and his ambitious student, drummer Andrew (Miles Teller). 

According to Slate critic J. Bryan Lowder, “Fletcher and Andrew are both obsessed…

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FAME! PART 4 — JUST SOME JAZZ GUY

“Stars twinkle until they wrinkle.” 
—Victor Mature 

That was well over 20 years ago. Since then I’ve weathered many career ups and downs, working both with and without the support of managers, agents, publicists and investors. 

Although I’m…

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CHET BAKER & THE SOUND OF SINCERITY

Clockwise (L-R) bassist Jean-Louis Rassinfosse, Chet Baker, Dmitri Matheny at the Chet Baker Memorial in Amsterdam

 

The first Chet Baker recording I ever heard was not one of his celebrated cool jazz hits from back when he looked…

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LONG IN THE TOOTH

Welp, I just turned 55.  

Now eligible for senior discounts at the diner. 

Damn. The years really sneak up on you, don’t they? 

The recent loss of my father during the navel-gazing of quarantine has only…

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RESOLUTIONS 2021: The Year of Renewal

Health 
Drink water. Eat vegetables. Take naps. Pace yourself.  
Cleaner fasts, more colorful feasts, smaller portions. 
Spend more time outdoors: walking, riding, fishing. 
Expand vegetable garden with new crops. 
Get vaccinated as soon as possible. 

Music 
Prepare arrangements…

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MY IDOL'S IDOL

Art Farmer talked about Clifford Brown often.  

The two were contemporaries, nearly the same age (born just two years apart), and had played in Lionel Hampton’s band together.  

But Art spoke of Clifford Brown with a quiet…

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