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Matthew Ireland

known to be enthusiastic about music and photography

About Me

Boston-based environmental attorney and amateur (technically semi-pro) photographer. Lover of all music, particularly jazz and alternative hip hop.

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My Jazz Story

My love affair with jazz started pretty early. As a kid, I loved the jazz-rock and jazz-funk of the 1970s, which, along with exposure to jazz in Junior High School bands, providing a launching pad to begin exploring jazz more deeply in High School and College. Although I haven't played since College, I've always been a rabid fan of all kinds of music. But my interests have centered in jazz, funk, alternative hip hop and experimental music. Since the late 80s, I've been a fan of fusions of jazz and hip hop or jazz influenced hip hop and electronic music. In Junior High I attended my first jazz concert: Herbie Hancock promoting Thrust in '74. It blew me away and was a significant step in my life-long love of music. Favorite artists include Miles Davis (espec. late 60s-early 70s), Herbie Hancock, Keith Jarrett's American Quartet ("The Survivor's Suite" is one of my all-time favorites), John Zorn, John Coltrane, Dave Douglas, Charlie Haden, Pharoah Sanders, Ornette Coleman, DJ Logic, The Roots, Christian McBride, World Saxophone Quartet, Lounge Lizards, Esperanza Spalding, and many more that don't quite fit into even an expansive definition of jazz (Astor Piazzolla, Radiohead, DJ Shadow, Stereolab, Massive Attack...just to name a few). I've written jazz and hip hop album and concert reviews and made "weekly live music picks" for a now defunct Boston blog (bostonist).

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