Lavelle's tunes have an organic rightness about them, an economy of language that wastes nothing and brings each performance to a satisfying resolution.
Jeff Stockton
About The House Keeper
One of my plans that DID work was expanding my quartet into a quintet with another horn player. When I discussed the idea with my big brother Jack DeSalvo, master guitarist, and producer at Unseen Rain Records, we agreed to ask the great Claire Daly, a good friend of mine and the anchor in my 12 Houses Orchestra to join us on baritone sax. Claire is like me in that we have jazz deep down in our soul. All of it. From Pops to 2022. The other change was bringing in another long time friend, pianist, composer, and artist Chris Forbes. I first met Chris at a workshop led by Sabir Mateen. I have always sought his musical counsel with great respect. He’s been the musical glue holding the 12 Houses together for over ten years. Hilliard Greene and Tom Cabrera return from my previous two quartet records on Unseen Rain. As free as I try to be, swing is at my core, and Hill and Tom both bring their very personal and unique crafts to the table. Together they create the ultimate environment for me to truly feel at home. I feel like I’m in a boat, and Hill is the ocean and Tom is the wind and sky."—Matt Lavelle