Results for "Matt Vashlishan"

Matt Vashlishan

Born: September 14, 1982

Matt Vashlishan is a saxophonist and multi-woodwind instrumentalist from northeast Pennsylvania, USA. He holds a DMA from the University of Miami, MM from William Paterson University and a BM from the Eastman School of Music, all in saxophone performance. Matt is the Jazz Program Coordinator and Curator of the Al Cohn Memorial Jazz Collection at East Stroudsburg University in Pennsylvania, the Jazz Ensemble Director at Lafayette College in Easton, Pennsylvania, and Instructor of Jazz Saxophone at Kutztown University of Pennsylvania.

Matt directs the Water Gap Jazz Orchestra (previously the Phil Woods COTA Festival Orchestra) in Delaware Water Gap, PA, which is a professional large jazz ensemble comprised of local and international professionals, and  performs with many other groups and projects in the Tri-State area. In December of 2021, he directed the WDR Big Band in Cologne, Germany performing "A Phil Woods Legacy."

Russell Scarbrough: Fun Times

by Jack Bowers
September 25, 2023

Bandleader Russell Scarbrough has an intriguing motto: “If it's not fun, we're not doing it right!" He also had an intriguing way of recording his debut album, Fun Times, to which an entire review could be devoted. Suffice to say that the individual parts were taped in isolation owing to the Covid pandemic and sent to ...

Selflessness - The Music of John Coltrane

By Dave Liebman

Label: Dot Time Records
Released: 2021
Track listing: Mr. Day; Compassion; My Favorite Things; Olé; Lazy Bird; Peace on Earth; One Up One Down; Selflessness; Dear Lord.

Field Theory

By Matt Panayides

Label: Pacific Coast Jazz
Released: 2021
Track listing: 1. KITE FLYING 6:36 2. DISTURBANCE 5:39 3. CLOSER NOW 5:19 4. FIELD THEORY 7:06 5. LOOKING ROUND CORNERS 6:30 6. ENERGY MOVER 6:20 7. 2.27.20 3:08 8. PENTA FOLK: ARRIVE 2:11 9. PENTA FOLK: COALESCE 1:46 10. PENTA FOLK: ASCEND 4:45 11. PENTA FOLK: DEPARTURE 1:07 12. SELF NARRATIVE 5:27

Dave Liebman: Selflessness - The Music of John Coltrane

by Jack Bowers
November 4, 2021

It is always nice to have a goal in life, something that urges you to arise in the morning and face the day ahead. For saxophonist Dave Liebman, that goal means catching the “Trane" he has been chasing for more than sixty years--ever since, as a teenager, he first saw the legendary John Coltrane at Birdland ...

Dave Liebman's Expansions: Selflessness - The Music of John Coltrane

by Troy Dostert
October 17, 2021

Finding one's inspiration in an iconic figure like John Coltrane presents a huge challenge for any musician. The sheer scope of the master's vision and the uniqueness of his instrumental voice can become overwhelming—particularly if the ultimate aim is to forge one's own path. But over a long and highly accomplished career, Dave Liebman has managed ...

Dave Liebman: Earth

by Angelo Leonardi
June 4, 2021

Dopo Water (1997), Air (2006) e Fire (2016), Dave Liebman completa il ventennale progetto volto a rappresentare in musica i quattro elementi naturali che danno origine alla materia, il cui riferimento è comune alle antiche cosmogonie occidentali e orientali. Come alcuni ricorderanno al primo disco parteciparono Pat Metheny, Billy Hart e Cecil McBee; ...

Contemporary Composer/Guitarist Matt Panayides' 'Field Theory' Explores New Sonic Landscapes

March 23, 2021

On Field Theory, guitarist and composer Matt Panayides explores new sonic landscapes by mixing electric and acoustic sounds in a set of modern, highly original post-bop compositions. Field Theory is a departure from Panayides’ previous releases, Conduits (2016) and Tapestries of Song (2011), which were both acoustic, modern jazz projects. Panayides, who grew up in Springfield, ...

The Len Pierro Jazz Orchestra: The Third Quarter

by Edward Blanco
February 7, 2021

Flourtown, PA native Len Pierro unveils one monster big band album that will be reverberating well beyond the boundaries of Pennsylvania and from radio studios throughout the jazz landscape for quite a long time. The Third Quarter is The Len Pierro Jazz Orchestra's recent offering and what an offering of fresh original compositions and re-imagined jazz ...

The Len Pierro Jazz Orchestra: The Third Quarter

by Jack Bowers
January 9, 2021

Any big-band album that opens with a rollicking Four Brothers-style saxophone soli is all but guaranteed to capture one's ear and interest. As it turns out, the buoyant “Fill in the Gap," on which the sax section sparkles, is but the first of many sonic delights on The Third Quarter, a marvelous new CD by Philadelphia-based ...