It’s a new year….

… so I best get back into the rhythm of writing and posting regularly.

In actuality, I’ve been immersing myself in work, both musical and personal, meaning I’m holing up in my own world following a creative surge of energy. That energy has often been directed to composing and recording musical material for possible features in film, television and other audio/visual markets. I do post samples on a ReverbNation page specifically for my ensemble compositions: https://www.reverbnation.com/mattrichmusic.

I’m getting much better at composing on demand – in fact, I composed then engineered a piece in two hours for a low-budget horror film. Though I haven’t heard anything back from the producers, I am pleased with Her Dark Heart – I did overstep my original intention and added some embellishments featuring the melody being twisted and turned in and around itself before the piece begins. Check it out here:  https://www.reverbnation.com/mattrichmusic/song/24944158-her-dark-heart. Without the intro it feels SciFi-like- I’ll keep it in rotation for inquiries.

The oft-rumored much-delayed CD project Balance is underway for real this time. I am, as usual, highly critical of my recorded work and while the many technical gremlins seem to be dashed for the time-being, my critical ear for the final product is a real challenge for me. In addition to wanting every note to be perfect, I’ve also found out that the many live solo dates throughout the Summer offered the wonderful opportunity to develop the pieces further. While, in and of itself, this is a good thing, I now go back and listen to tracks from earlier in the year and discover I am performing them very differently now. When I review those recorded versions I find I must listen with the mindset that they are perfectly good versions of the tunes – I must struggle to not re-record newer renditions or else I end up in an endless loop of recycling myself. Each time I play the songs there are differences – I’m slowly accepting that and, unless there are serious problems with the performance, I need to recognize that the earlier versions are fine and will work perfectly on the release.

I am happy to say the cover art now exists in a new, much-improved version:

The first cover featured the photo of the dancer/gymnast from my former arts school with her arms outstretched (which brought the title Balance to mind). However, when I showed my wife the cover she immediately asked where I’d gotten a photo of a nude woman dancing and if I really wanted to put that on a CD cover. In fact, my PhotoShop manipulations had altered the photo and gave the appearance that the woman was, in fact, not wearing a leotard for her routine. I did attempt to correct this, but my efforts looked very much like I was covering up a naked lady in a photo. I perused my collection of photos taken while on the road and found the intriguing one above – it may still be tweaked before the release, but it’s pretty close to the way I want it to look now (and I don’t feel the need to paint fake sleeves on any part of it).

There has also been some familial adjustments following my mother’s passing – nothing serious or debilitating. The feeling in our small family circle is somewhat different. A few loose ends are being tied up, as well.

Getting back to blogging for the New Year. I promise.

Happy 2016!

Matt

 

 

 

 

“Going inside the music and searching for possibilities that aren’t immediately noticed.”

I’m not sure if that’s a quotable statement — now that I look at it I am reminded of those kickers that appear in large print between paragraphs in a published interview. The idea behind such journalistic practice is to grab the attention of someone paging through the magazine/paper/publication and get him / her to read the entire article.

This is how I recently described my approach to playing solo guitar – while I always employ a generous amount of improvisation to most of my repertoire I’ve become aware of how I also employ that approach for arranging.

For the very first time I recently arranged one of my non-guitar compositions for solo guitar. The piece, Now That You’ve Been Forgotten, was originally composed for piano and soprano sax using Finale. I voiced the piano chords by feel/sound, not attempting to make them adhere to any predetermined rules or ideas. When I did sit down and begin adapting the piece to the guitar one of the first things I did was define the chords, essentially naming them (i.e., Dm7, Fmajor7b5, etc.). It was immediately apparent that they did not transpose to guitar easily – re-voicing them essentially altered the piece far too much for my taste. At first, I was ready to declare it unplayable on the guitar and just figure it was best-suited to the original arrangement. However, after a minute or two, I began transposing the melody so it sat better on the guitar; then, I dropped harmonies around the melody in the new key. Before the evening was over I had re-interpreted Now That You’ve Been Forgotten for the guitar in much the same way I’ve arranged music by other artists, be it popular, standards or anything else. I am still tweaking my approach with it — especially the improvisational section — but it now exists in two different forms and I am pleased with both. At first, I worried I’d end up altering my original version — but it’s different enough from the solo guitar rendition and it works on its own.

This is a real first for me as I tend to keep my original versions of my compositions intact. They may evolve over time (say, 10 years) after repeated performances, but never did I adapt a piece so early in its life.

Of course, I now want to include it on the still-in-progress recording Balance — at this rate I may have to release two volumes just to get everything out. Or I’ll need to be patient and include what I originally planned while stockpiling the newer pieces for later release.

By the way, you can hear the original along some other non-guitar compositions on ReverbNation:

http://www.reverbnation.com/mattrichmusic

Until next time….

 

Beginning a New Year with a new post…..

… would seem like a no-brainer, but that’s too easy.

Actually, I did lay low over the holiday season, only checking FaceBook, Twitter, etc. once a day and mostly just hitting LIKE for others’ posts. I felt some sort of burnout taking hold and needed to reset myself – some intensely determined Buddhist chanting has pushed me back into action. While I am steadily getting back on track I must admit I do feel more focused. It’s usually not a problem being a one-person operation and handling everything every day – but repetition both in my own actions and the responses (or consistent lack thereof) I receive from bookers and promoters eventually wears thin.

I am getting some revamping done, mostly with my website (gradual tweaks and mods which may go unnoticed) and also with my playing (!). I’m actually reviewing the published exercises from John McLaughlin‘s This Is How I Do It DVD educational release from a few years ago. He does work up to his signature approach rather carefully, with simple patterns across scales and builds logically into full-fledged improvisations over chord vamps. The charts do provide a good deal on their own. I’ve also glimpsed some excerpts on YouTube. The DVD set costs at least $75.00 online, though actual retail is much higher. I admit to being hesitant about purchasing the package given the price tag (though I have paid more than that for one lesson). Last year, Larry Coryell had suggested I study the music/playing style of Tal Farlow – of course, when Larry recommends something I’ve learned to take his advice… which I did, obtaining the one technique book on Tal along with a four-album CD collection. While I’ve not only listened to Tal during my lifetime I also became acquainted with him and attended a few performances in intimate club settings. Tal was always somewhat modest about his abilities and admitted that he couldn’t always explain in detail the music he had just made. While musical comrade were busy transcribing and parroting solos I tended to listen closely and let the ideas slowly sink in – these would ultimately surface days/weeks/months later during a gig and cascade out of my fingers onto the strings and into the air as music.

My great pursuit, for the time being, is digging deeper into the music to find ways playing through changes. While I’m always looking to expand my single-line improvising, I’m sincerely attempting to apply the same approach to solo guitar with chord forms and variations. As I’m recording my CD project Balance I’m discovering new chordal ideas/harmonies/lines are taking shape as I play. More importantly, I’m hearing things differently, finding new ways to work through progressions that may seem ‘outside’ on paper but sound better and better each time. I’ve always believed you develop and mature in your ability to apply extended harmonic ideas and make them musically appropriate rather than a ‘high-wire circus act’ (Ralph Towner’s words) of calculated virtuosity. A great example is Wayne Shorter (my Buddhist grandfather, by the way) who seems to be capable of playing any note / phrase and make it work in anything. Obviously, I’m over-simplifying that fact – he is an improvisor of the highest order whose ideas and skills have developed over a lifetime.

So I am digging into the technical and theoretical side of music to do some homework and ignite new ideas and possibilities. While I, like most musicians, listen to/experience music on several levels (artistic/technical/theoretical), I try to come away with a grasp of the spirit that went into the performance – the learning issues get ingrained and permit the artist to express his life easily with a high degree of musicality. It’s that life-force that drives it all and tapping into it makes every bit of effort worthwhile.

See you next time.

Matt

How time flies……

…. and when it takes off it becomes impossible to catch up.

Matt preforms solo – 12/7/14 – East Bruswick NJ

My absence from posting for a while had valid reasons. First and foremost, my mother was admitted to the hospital with some sort of viral infection that was of great concern given her age. Within hours, as the treatments were being formulated planned, the virus dissipated, her fever broke and she began to eat again and regain her strength and alertness. She is back at her senior residence and, though there is extra care in place, she is showing amazing actual proof of her resilience. While I was confident that her care was the very best possible, the situation weighed on my mind and my ability to concentrate on my usual ‘front office’ duties.

Of course, the ‘front office’ can only function when everything (including me) is working as it should be. A few months ago I became aware of a website based in Russia that was streaming/ offering for free download the music from my videos. Google alerts sent me an update that my name and the word ‘guitar’ were being promoted on the world-wide web. As I didn’t post this or engage in any direct action for this to appear I clicked on the link. An entire website opened before me with a myriad of free music downloads (in three resolutions no less). It turns out someone grabbed the audio tracks for most of my video files, re-engineered them in low, medium and high resolution (!) and posted them for free download. I traced the website owner back to an email address and sent a terse message. He/she/it replied in Russian which translated into ‘Can you prove you own them?’ My Google-translated reply was ‘Yes – I have legal documents’ gained a reply to the effect of ‘I can take some down’. I did reply with an extensive list — to this day they are still out there. Truth be told, I do not make a lot of money from downloads so I am losing very little. Also, the audio from the videos is not the best quality to begin with. After consideration, I decided it wasn’t worth hassling via Google Translate and figured it could actually expand my visibility. So the pirated tracks remain….

Just about two weeks ago I decided to upgrade my website with some tweaks and new photos, etc. Imagine my surprise when I discovered pages missing — I clicked on links to pages I had installed months before only to find they no longer existed! Small wonder my booking efforts were coming up short. I suspect now that the site was hacked, links to videos grabbed and the pages deleted. Why? How in heck can I know? Perhaps it’s the Mount Everest syndrome (because someone can do it and it’s there). I immediately changed my passwords and uploaded my backups, then did the intended tweaking to bring things up to speed.

Now website checking is a scheduled event, like the watchman doing rounds. I did issue an apology via the website and in all follow-ups to bookers and festival programmers.

Of course, the sessions for my solo recording project Balance continue, albeit with a freeform schedule. In fact, this is not a bad thing — my usual exaggerated attention to every detail that takes place right after the recording session is buffered and minimized. After two or three weeks I don’t recall every scratch and squeak and buzzed note that stood out at the time of the recording. So far, I am very pleased with the tracks that are in the (virtual) can.

Well, there is more to come — in fact, I’ll post again in a few days to update everyone on some gigs, new material and other things. So sorry to be away for a while — I only compose and post something when I am focused and want to communicate. I never rave and rant……

Thanks! I’ll be back soon.

 

Matt

I am still here (in case you were wondering)…..

… and the music hasn’t stopped by any means. While I had a large portion of August set aside for finishing my new recording project Balance and for my domestic projects (which involve paint, drop cloths, various tools and ladders, etc.) I did get grabbed up for several last-minute performances. I do put additional time into my practice / preparation for my gigs, of course, and I planned on bringing new material to the Lewiston NY festival — I used these dates as motivation to get the new music together.

The Lewiston festival was truly first-rate all the way. I played two shows on Saturday 8/23 – one solo acoustic, the other with my trio. In both cases, the listening audiences were wonderful – attentive and supportive. I had more than a few conversations about my music and career on  breaks and after the shows. It was stunning to have an entire town turned into the jazz center of New York state.

My evening show included local jazz legends bassist Wayne Moose and drummer Dan Hull. I felt as if I had played with them both all of my life — great talents and really great guys. I have videos coming out soon — check YouTube.com/mattrichardsmusic for updates.

I offer my most sincere thanks to everyone who worked many months to make this really come off. Congratulations on a fantastic festival! My very special thanks to Ron for booking me and introducing me to Wayne and Dan. (FYI – they are members of his trio!)

There will be some updates coming regarding my new solo guitar CD. I’ll post more on that and some other things next time.

Thanks so much!

Matt

Music means different things to different people.

I recently recalled an episode from several years ago — a man and woman came to one of my performances and purchased a CD afterward. They related that they had my previous CD release and the woman added “We love listening to your music during dinner”. My knee-jerk reaction was to respond by snatching their recent purchase from their hands and tell them how my valuable performance, stunning technique and sublime arrangements weren’t mere backdrop music to accompany meatloaf and potatoes. However, from many hours of Buddhist chanting I was able to draw upon a higher instinct and realize that they were, indeed, complimenting me. They weren’t heavy-duty guitar aficionados; neither one played guitar at any level. Yet, they felt something when they listened to my playing and for them, to listen while they dined was, indeed, a special thing. I told them how delighted I was that they enjoyed my music and I really meant it. This was a major turning point for me as an artist and as a human being.

I’ve performed in a broad range of settings during the past month — from the very laid-back Paris Wine Bar, to the boisterous Reading Terminal Market, to two winery tasting rooms, to a parking lot during a farmers’ market. In each setting I was able to bring the music to different people, few of whom would actually appear in every one of these venues. I don’t do this range of venues out of desperation or necessity — I realize I am communicating my musical performance to a wider variety of listeners than I could if I played only one type of venue. And while it’s a good thing for me (obviously) to broaden my exposure and fanbase, it also serves the ‘bigger picture’ for performing artists — by making people aware of music being played in my unique way I call attention to other solo instrumentalists and widen our market a bit more.

I also feel that I’ve become a more focused player and I am achieving a bit of a long-term career goal — having a recognizable style no matter what setting I play in. Whether it’s with Tony Hughes in our guitar duo or JayKatz in our guitar/voice duo or with the Philly Blues Kings, I am beginning to sound like myself. I do play appropriately for whatever setting I’m in and never ignore the music in order to gratify my ego. That’s part of my style, after all…..

Matt

It’s about the music – it’s all good!

Salt Lake City Airport

It has been a while since I last sat down and put thoughts to paper (virtually, at least). I avoid doing journal-like accounts of my days as that takes time out of whatever I’m doing. While I do have my BA in Journalism (!) if I try chronicling each day I get wrapped up in grammar, phrasing, sentence flow, etc. and spend too much time on composing material that satisfies the writer aspect of my life. If progress for that day was less than instantly spectacular I tend to get a bit sour in my accounts (which shoves me into cynicism, which tends to stick around). Too frequently I don’t see immediate benefits from my promo/calls/emails/EPKs – even my practicing – but the results are apparent later (days/weeks/even months). If I let myself get dragged down with a muddy attitude I lose my focus and miss opportunities and deadlines. And, as anyone involved in artistic pursuits can tell you, that attitude can shut down any sort of progress that may be underway.

One thing that tends to operate a bit under the radar (at least for me) are the various pages I am involved with on ReverbNation.com. I discovered RN years ago, primarily to utilize their easy-to-use widget audio player. Their capabilities have expanded over the ensuing years and thousands of artists and fans put these functions to good use. They do tend to focus most of their promotional and booking endeavors on popular markets (as do most of these sort of service-related sites), but they are out there and that widget audio player is still easy to use.

Here’s a listing of the current RN pages I’m part of:

http://www.reverbnation.com/mattrichards – my solo guitar and sideman projects

http://www.reverbnation.com/mattrichardstrio – Matt Richards Group

http://www.reverbnation.com/mattrichardsduo – my duo with flutist Katherine Barbato

http://www.reverbnation.com/jaykatzmattrichardsduo – my duo with vocalist JayKatz

http://www.reverbnation.com/mattrichmusic – my composition / soundtrack work

The composition page is probably new to most listeners. This is work I’ve been involved with for the past year via my use of Finale. The music falls outside of my usual material — in fact, it’s not intended to be performed live. I have orchestrated older pieces of mine and composed completely new works. While I may incorporate some Finale orchestration in my recordings in the future I’m primarily just exercising my composing and arranging skills. I do entertain the idea of doing soundtracks with the music, but it’s a whole new thing for me. (I’m a better guitarist than  composer right now….)

View from the sky above Salt Lake City airport.

On other fronts, I’m working on the new solo recording along with performances with JayKatz, Howard Miller, Tony Hughes and Katherine Barbato (who’s back in town now).

I’ll have more updates soon, as well as some guitar/music-oriented postings. It’s time to do the late-night promo push.

See you all soon.

Matt

 

 

Winter NAMM came and went….

…. and, along with my son, so did I.

The Winter NAMM Show is overwhelming — the very first time you go it will cause dizziness and severely sore feet. Then there’s confusion, disorientation and a feeling of ‘what am I doing over here when I should be over there?’ First and foremost it’s a music industry trade show, intended as a promotional endeavor for hundreds of companies that are involved in businesses relating to music. For the musicians it offers opportunities to connect with companies for endorsements, perform in both formal and informal settings for a captive professional audience and to establish the fact that you are someone worth noticing. (The NAMM Show is closed to the general public — you must have some connection/affiliation with a professional company/vendor to even walk through the doors.)

While I did meet up with acquaintances and make new friends, this show was hampered by the fact that our hotel (promoted as conveniently located to the convention center) was a 35-minute bus ride away that required a 15 minute walk to the bus stop and between a 30 – 50 minute wait for the bus. Taxi service was at a premium requiring up to 40 minutes wait and a hefty fare. Normally, the hotel is within convenient walking distance to the convention center and I’ve never needed a rental car. But, all things considered, we made the most of the trip, and I did meet Pat Quilter (whose transistor amps are at least as good as my favorite vintage brand (Lab by Moog)) as well as some other nice folks. The details have settled in as the weeks have passed. Rather than rant on here, I’ll get to some timely news.

I’ll be performing in my first-ever guitar/vocal duo with the incomparable JayKatz beginning in April. Actually, Jay will join me in a 2-guitar/bass/voice quartet in March at the superb restaurant August Moon. This project is also a first for me — the quartet is a drummerless group and is assembled from my duos. This is the first time we’re all playing together at the same time. In addition to JayKatz, this group includes Tony Hughes on guitar and Nick Krolak on bass.

I’ve been more involved in studio production work, most immediately in mix/edit/master work with duo recordings with Jay, and with solo recordings for my next release Balance. I do go deep when I’m involved with any recording work and 4 to 6 hours in the real world seems like 2 hours in studio time. Of course, I spend a serious amount of time sweating over every note on playbacks — I am excessively critical and I always need to give myself some space after any recording session. So, this means results of the solo sessions are pending…. I will say that I really like ribbon mics now……

I’m working with almost five hours of sleep so I believe I’ll close this posting and come back with a new one when I’ve rested a bit more. Let me offer one of my famous / notorious window shots from my trip to CA. This is just outside Salt Lake City UT.

View from Salt Lake City airspace.

Peace.

Matt

2014 is now here…..

… and part of me wonders where 2013 went and why it went there so quickly.

To be honest, I am not lamenting the year gone by in any way — I do wish (as I always seem to do) that I was busier in more public ways (shows/performances/press). I carry a new-found determination to avoid any sort of lethargy or fatalistic feelings when I’m doing my front office work (pitching/promoting/booking). With the demise of a few performing opportunities, either with the closing of venues or the elimination of music programs in established settings, it’s all too easy to throw my hands up and start throwing the blame around. But, as I’ve found out in the past, once you go down that negative slope you drag everything along with you — I’ve done enough of this in days past to know I won’t go there ever again. (My Buddhist practice does make the difference!)

I did mention vocalist Jay Katz in a previous post along with a number of other upcoming projects. In addition to working up some tunes with her, she was most helpful in getting the lyrical phrasing in my composition How Many Times Will We Say Goodbye? together. If you’ve heard me perform during the past year you may recall my performing an original piece called Ballad, which is exactly that, a ballad. I was inspired to put lyrics to it and, since I could never sing the melody I had written, I needed expertise. I passed the chart along to Jay and not only did she tweak the melody to fit the lyrics, she actually recorded a voice/piano demo and sent it back via email at 1:30am! We did get some recording time in shortly afterward and focused on just voice and guitar in a duo. I am looking forward to performing with her soon. She will be featured on Thursday 1/16 with Howard Miller and Friends (including me) at Abington Presbyterian Church Parish Hall. Visit me on FaceBook (http://FaceBook.com/MattRichardsguitar) for specifics on the show.

Vocalist Jay Katz

I finally recorded solo guitar performances for my long-delayed solo album Balance. I had been plagued by electrical ‘gremlins’ when I attempted to set up my home studio. I’d have all sorts of squiggles and buzzes and even AM radio in the signal path no matter how I attempted to filter things. I finally devised a way to record without plugging into an outlet. It seems to have worked! Now, I just need to like what I played…..

For the guitar-oriented readers: I recently followed the advice of my long-time friend and guitar-physician extraordinaire Jack Romano regarding tuning angst with the 3rd string on my LaPatrie cutaway classical – a wound G string! It worked! I’ve tried both steel-wound (GHS) and nylon-wound (Savarez) and they both work perfectly. No more compromises in high positions! I’ll eventually settle on one and let everyone know.

I am getting ready to head off to CA for the Winter NAMM Show — I’ll check in with my thoughts about this music-trade-show adventure next time.

Time to practice!

Thanks.

Matt

 

There were a lot of things going on…..

…. and, it seems, I was in the midst of it all, for a change. I have been recounting my fortune since the last posting and the best description is wide-ranging. I had a fantastic solo date during the Jazz By Night In Media celebration that takes over Media PA at this time each year — not only did I really dig deeply into some fantastic inspiration and play well but I had the opportunity to head out after ward and visit with some ‘fellow’ jazz artists, most notably Phyllis Chapell (Okay, she’s not exactly a fellow in the strict sense) and her duo partner Steve Jewett. It was almost like being in NYC and getting to hang with some of the legends after your gig. Phyllis is in a class by herself — I arrived to her singing Quizas Quizas Quizas in both English and Spanish and did get to hang and talk shop (and other topics) before I realized how tired I was. Wonderful evening, worth the trip each and every year.

Hagstrom Swede at rest

Arlyn Wolters at work

I worked up a duo rendition of Kate Bush’s Man With The Child In His Eyes with vocalist Arlyn Wolters for a Buddhist event — was I nervous? Yes — Kate Bush is one of the true greats in every way and when Arlyn and I proposed the idea I actually dove into it purely by instinct (or, possibly, blind idealism) and after reviewing several songs I suggested Man which met her instant approval. Then, I listened to two different versions by Ms. Bush herself and wondered ‘What was I thinking?’ Kate’s music is so personal, often intimate, and almost defies you to try and play it without sounding mediocre. I brought my trusty Lowden S27FC out and struck a balance between piano and violins which suited Arlyn’s amazing vocal. I got chills when she sang the first note — no lie! Believe it or not, I appreciate Kate Bush even more now.

Left to right: Frank Butrey, Matt Richards, Richard Tucker

I did mention the guitar trio in my previous post — it was everything it could have been and even a bit more. Frank Butrey, Rich Tucker and I played together like old friends from the very first note and the rhythm section of Mark Johnson, Jeff Johnson and Cedric Napolean were top notch without a doubt. The show was sold out and we received a standing ovation. Despite all of my multi-guitar projects form previous years this was the first jazz guitar trio I’ve ever been part of and I am ready for more. And so are Frank and Rich. Stay tuned….

I’ve also had the opportunity to work with jazz vocalist Jay Katz. After hearing her sing the blues at a local session in October (where she modestly got up and told us she was ‘new here’ before knocking out everyone in attendance with her Summertime) we connected to discuss music and even attempted a Skype rehearsal (which went badly – the signal would freeze or skip). Jay joined my guitar duo with Tony Hughes for a great set of music. Videos are making their way onto YouTube and are included on my channel.

I will be joining both Arlyn and Jay in duos, each with a somewhat different focus. In years gone by, I usually avoided collaborating with vocalists – for one thing, I wasn’t that good and couldn’t truly accompany someone other than strumming chords blandly behind them. Additionally, there were a multitude of singers who characterized their part of the performance by requesting me to ‘nod when you want me to come in’. Both Arlyn and Jay are the real deal, musicians whose instrument is the voice, who know music and will make a duo something unique, exciting and very musical (which is the way I want it to be).

Getting long-winded, especially before dinner. I’ll have food and wine and I’ll be back.

Peace.

Matt