Arts
“Of all of the guests I have had on my show whom I have had the great fortune to know personally, I believe Dmitri Matheny would count as the oldest of friends since my association with him goes back at least to early 1983 - at Interlochen Arts Academy . When we were both living in Boston, I was the pianist with a wonderful group he organized. I have to say, without reservations, that not only is Dmitri a superb all around musician but is one of the most organized and conscientious people in the arts I have ever known and it is a rare thing indeed when those coexist in the same soul. He was able to get us a lot gigs in that band and he is that rare artist who also happens to have a business sense. He also happened to have made his instrumental speciality one of my favorite of all the horns: the flugelhorn. (And made what I still consider the greatest Christmas Jazz album , to which I contributed an arrangement) https://dmitrimatheny.bandcamp.com/album/santas-got-a-brand- new-bag You will note that we talk a lot in this episode about the music and musicians we love. I truly believe that to be the best artist one can be requires finding an individual, you can say a mentor, to help be a guide. This is education of the highest sort and of course can happen either in or outside of an institution. This is a very old school, "apprenticeship" method and I can't imagine having gone about things in any other way. One of the advantages of having that one mentor like this is that you are getting a partial glimpse into that mentor's mind on a one- to-one, intimate level, something I can't see happening to the same effect in a crowded classroom. In Dmitri's case this mentor was none other than the great Art Farmer, no less. In my case it was pianist/composer Stanley Cowell. Of course it is a truism that sometimes the best performers aren't always the best teachers; in my case I was most fortunate that the two coincided., since Cowell remains one of my favorite pianists. We talk a lot about Art Farmer on this episode and you will know why if you know Farmer's playing. I really enjoyed this conversation; it was like a reunion of sorts after about two decades and it was one that was a joyous occasion. One of the reasons his business sense was so welcome, at least in the case of our kind of music, is that he would show up to a gig or a session and everything was so well planned and executed in terms of logistics that you could really be most free, let go, and blow, like the old expression, "that cat's charts play themselves." Dmitri Bio Winner of NW Jazz Instrumentalist of the Year honors in the Seattle Earshot Golden Ear Awards, flugelhornist Dmitri Matheny has been lauded as “one of the most emotionally expressive improvisers of his generation” (International Review of Music). An honors graduate of Berklee College of Music , Dmitri Matheny vaulted onto the jazz scene in the 1990s as the protégé of jazz legend Art Farmer. Since then he has garnered critical acclaim and a loyal international following, releasing eleven CDs and touring extensively throughout the United States, Europe and Asia. The San Francisco Chronicle calls Matheny “one of the jazz world’s most talented horn players.” Links to Dmitri’s beautiful works: Website http://www.dmitrimatheny.com Tour https://www.dmitrimatheny.com/tour Touring History https://www.dmitrimatheny.com/touring-history Biography http://www.dmitrimatheny.com/biography Music http://www.dmitrimatheny.com/music Videos http://www.dmitrimatheny.com/videos Discography http://www.dmitrimatheny.com/discography Wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dmitri_Matheny Instagram http://instagram.com/dmitrimatheny Twitter https://twitter.com/dmitrimatheny YouTube http://www.youtube.com/user/papillonrecordings https://dmitrimatheny.bandca --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/mitch-hampton/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/mitch-hampton/support