The return of the ground
breaking group Matrix to the
Fox Valley is not really a return at all. They’ve been here all along
as many of the group’s members still call Wisconsin home, and though
they do not tour as they did in their mid seventies heyday, all
are passionately involved in music in one form or another.
Matrix is often
described as being "ahead of its time," and this is certainly true,
but there are many who believe that Matrix's
'70s music, not to mention its new works, sounds as fresh as ever in
2009.
Matrix brings
together a wide variety of musical tastes and experience, from bebop to
the rich power of big bands, the jazz-rock, pop and funk of the '60s
and '70s, and the fusions of such artists as the "electric" Miles
Davis, Weather Report, Chick Corea and Pat Metheny. Add to this the
experiments of European jazz, and the classical music that most of the
members have studied it all goes into the unique mix that is Matrix's musical signature.
Matrix emerged from
the Lawrence University jazz program in 1974. After honing its
sound in many Midwestern clubs, this band’s first prestigious
engagement was with the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra in the spring of
1975. The group continued to develop a following in the Midwest,
then exploded on the national music scene with a trip to the West Coast
in the fall of 1976. An appearance at the Monterey Jazz Festival
inspired Leonard Feather, the dean of American jazz critics, to write
in the Los Angeles Times,
"Matrix. . . made a smashing West Coast debut. .
. Overall, a stunning outfit." An ensuing engagement
at the world-famous Concerts by the Sea in Redondo Beach, California
led Feather to follow up describing Matrix
as "a band that cannot fail to appeal
to the emotions, the intellect or to any jazz enthusiast who, tired of
bebop cliches or rock overkill, is receptive to something adventurous,
exciting and just about totally new." He named Matrix combo of the year in his
annual Golden Feather awards.
Touring the United States in the late 70s Matrix made significant waves
in the new style of jazz that dominated the 1970s. The band
played again at Monterey, the Newport Jazz Festival in New York, and
the inaugural (and in two subsequent years) Telluride Jazz
Festival. The band released four albums, for RCA, Warner Brothers
and Pablo Records. Down
Beat magazine, as well as publishing a feature story on Matrix, reviewed three of the
albums, two of which earned four-star reviews. Their 2002 release Proud
Flesh was not only a joyous reunion of these kindred spirits and a
critically acclaimed recording, but a gift to the ears of serious
listeners.
Matrix’s music has
all the elements of high art and intellectual interest as well as the
ability to communicate important emotions directly to the soul. This
music hits you where you live.
This year’s performance at the Fox Jazz Fest is in part a celebration
of the Wounded Bird Records’ releases of two of Matrix’s ‘70s albums, Wizard and
Tale of the Whale.
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