Matt Slocum©Tim Scudder

One of his generation's most highly regarded drummers, St. Paul native Matt Slocum holds a homecoming party in celebration of his debut release, Portraits, at the Artists Quarter February 19-20. He brings along an equally esteemed pair of bandmates, saxophonist Walter Smith III and bassist Joe Sanders.

Born in St. Paul and raised 40 miles away in New Richmond, WI, Matt was exposed to music from early childhood. "My parents are both very hip and they would take us to hear concerts around the area," Matt recalls. "No one in the family was a professional musician, but my dad is an artist who makes stained glass mirrors and windows. Sometimes we'd tag along to his art fairs and get to hear music there. There were also instruments around the house for us to play and it was a nice creative environment." His first instrument was the piano, which he began to study at age 9, picking up drums at 11. "I wanted to play the drums right away, but to join the percussion program at school we had to first study piano for two years. Plus my parents wanted each of us to learn to play the piano. My first memory of hearing the drums was actually a marching band--maybe it was a parade or July 4th. The initial attraction was the rhythmic energy and drive of the percussion instruments."

By the time he entered high school, Matt was thinking more seriously about music, and particularly jazz. But, "Although there was a good music program at the school, New Richmond isn't exactly a jazz mecca. My mom is a Macalester alumna, so she called the college to ask about a drumset instructor." Soon Matt was studying with local drum titan Phil Hey. "Phil is a great person and a serious musician," says Matt of his first mentor. "Before we had any lessons he made me a list of a couple dozen recordings to check out. Because I didn't have much experience playing jazz, he really helped me out with building a foundation, learning various styles, reading music, working out of Marv Dahlgren's 'Four Way Coordination' and the Philly Joe Jones's brush method book. He stressed the importance of listening to a lot of music." Listening to a lot of music included hearing Phil at the Dakota and Artists Quarter. "I really like Phil's musical aesthetic. He knows the history of the music and can really swing and play straight-ahead, but he is also very open-minded and plays great in more modern and open formats. He is always checking out new records and is constantly growing as an artist. It was a treat to get to hear and study with such a first rate musician."

Joe Sanders©Andrea Canter

Matt graduated from USC in 2004, and after establishing himself on the West Coast, moved to New York in 2007. He quickly became an active part of the New York scene, and now boasts a resume of performances and recordings from coast to coast, including work with Shelly Berg, Seamus Blake, Alan Broadbent, Bill Cunliffe, Larry Koonse, Wynton Marsalis, Alan Pasqua, Bob Sheppard, Gerald Wiggins, Anthony Wilson and the Dallas Symphony Orchestra. And his sources of inspiration now make for a long list, from Roy Haynes, Max Roach, Elvin Jones, Art Blakey and Tony Williams to Matt Wilson, Lewis Nash, Bill Stewart and his contemporaries, like Marcus Gilmore and Kendrick Scott.

Portraits

Matt Slocum is now releasing his first recording as leader, and for which he composed eight of nine tracks. A grant from the Meet the Composer Foundation helped support his efforts, including a performance and discussion of the music. "The recording came together rather spontaneously., notes Matt. "At the time, I had been doing a lot of writing and playing frequently with Walter, Gerald, Massimo, Jaleel and Dayna... The music was written with these gentlemen and their unique musical personalities in mind... as a way to document this music and to provide a snapshot of this group of special musicians and friends. I consider the chemistry of a group to be of at least equal importance as the level of each musician's playing." [Click here for a Jazz Police review ]

And when he is composing, Matt makes use of his early piano lessons. "I compose at the piano. I was fortunate to be able to study harmony and composition with some great teachers at USC." And as a drummer, does he approach composition from a different perspective that he would as a pianist? "I think in terms of writing music in a general sense," Matt says, "not 'drummer tunes' or 'piano tunes,' etc. There's no way around the fact that one's primary instrument influences the compositional process, and, in jazz, the individual's personality comes out both in improvisation (composition in real time) and the writing process. The composer's music can also transcend his primary instrument. For instance, I don't hear 'bass music' when I listen to Dave Holland compositions or 'trumpet tunes' when I listen to Tom Harrell's music." And an artist known as a "melodic drummer," it makes sense that Matt Slocum first develops a melodic structure before moving into issues of time and rhythm. "I generally write melodies first because I feel that the melody should be able to stand alone. When listeners hear one of my compositions, I don't want them to be able to detect that it was written by a drummer. Music is music and I like dealing with it on a broader level of painting and shading with the color relationships of melody, harmony and rhythm."

Walter Smith III©Andrea Canter

At the Artists Quarter

Matt Slocum's CD release weekend will feature the drummer with a pared down trio of saxophone (Walter Smith III) and bass (Joe Sanders).  Houston native Walter Smith, most recently in the Twin Cities with Sean Jones's Sextet at the Dakota (2008), leads his own quintet and appears on Terence Blanchard's latest release. He has also performed with Roy Haynes, Eric Harland, Christian Scott, Ambrose Akinmusire, Jason Moran and Christian McBride.  Joe Sanders recently earned second place in the Thelonious Monk International Jazz Bass Competition, has worked with Roy Hargrove, and currently tours with the Gerald Clayton Trio.

Says Matt, "I'm excited for the gigs at the Artists' Quarter. It's a very special club and it will fun to play there with two of my favorite musicians, with family and friends in the house. I am also looking forward to hearing and working with the jazz students at the U of M while I'm town."

Catch the Matt Slocum Trio at the Artists Quarter this weekend, February 19-20 (9 pm). And tune in to KBEM radio (88.5 FM) on Wednesday, February 18th at 5 pm for Kevin O'Connor's interview with Matt.

The Artists Quarter is located at 408 St. Peter Street in downtown St. Paul. More on Matt Slocum at www.mattslocumjazz.com. For the full JazzINK interview with Matt, visit http://jazzink.com/index.php?url=/interviews/mattslocum.php. Portraits is available at www.cdbaby.com/cd/mattslocum or through I-tunes.

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