Jazz Articles about Matt Gallagher

About Matt Gallagher

Album Review

The Len Pierro Jazz Orchestra: As I Was Saying

Read "As I Was Saying" reviewed by Jack Bowers

by Jack Bowers
February 17, 2025

Remember the good old days before high-tech hardware and software seized control and the country's leading big bands were recorded in a studio or in concert employing a wide dynamic range with no overdubs or splices to enhance the performance? Composer and arranger Len Pierro does, which is why he planned As I Was Saying, the second album with his Philadelphia-based Jazz Orchestra, to mirror those classic recordings by the likes of Woody Herman, Count Basie, Duke Ellington, Buddy Rich ...

Album Review

Jim Levendis: The Big Band Project

Read "The Big Band Project" reviewed by Jack Bowers

by Jack Bowers
August 28, 2022

Jim Levendis knew that time was running out. In his mid-seventies, the veteran Philadelphia-area trumpeter and educator had contracted ALS (Lou Gehrig's disease), the effects of which were rapidly sapping his energy and ability to function. As the disease progressed, Levendis confided in Len Pierro, a band mate in the Ward Marston band, that there was one thing he would dearly love to do while he was still able: record some of the big-band arrangements he had written over the ...

Live Review

University of the Arts “Z” Big Band: Jumpin’ at the Monterey Jazz Festival

by Victor L. Schermer
September 25, 2017

University of the Arts “Z" Big Band Monterey Jazz Festival Monterey, CA September 17, 2017 This article is a follow-up to the review of the “Z" Band Reception and Kickoff Concert in Philadelphia on September 7. If you want to know a little more about the band, you can check out that review-Eds. The famed Monterey Jazz Festival, celebrating its 60th anniversary this year, is the longest-running jazz festival in the U.S. Featuring ...

Live Review

The University of the Arts “Z” Big Band: Monterey, Here We Come!

by Victor L. Schermer
September 13, 2017

UArts “Z" Big Band Reception and Kickoff Concert Kaplan Auditorium University of the Arts Philadelphia, PA September 7, 2017 They were underdogs, but they gave it their best shot. Then they shocked themselves and everyone else by tying for first place with the UNLV student ensemble in the Monterey Jazz Festival College Big Band Competition! They won out over approximately 600 bands, many of them more well-known, bands ...