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Matt Olson

Equally at home as a jazz and classical saxophonist, Conn-Selmer and D’Addario Endorsing Artist Matt Olson is Professor of Saxophone and Director of Jazz Studies at Furman University in Greenville, South Carolina. He hails from Racine, Wisconsin, and holds a Doctor of Musical Arts degree from the University of Illinois, and a Master of Music degree in Jazz Pedagogy and Bachelor of Music degree in Saxophone Performance from Northwestern University. Matt’s teachers have included Frederick Hemke, Debra Richtmeyer, Mike Kocour, Don Owens, Paul Bro, Ron Bridgewater, Tom Wirtel, Thomas Matta, and Jonathan Helton. Matt’s professional work includes performances with Randy Brecker, Chris Potter, Kenny Barron, Stefon Harris, Kurt Elling, Benny Carter, Wayne Bergeron, Jeff Coffin, John Fedchock, Jason Marsalis, Byron Stripling, Ken Peplowski, Veronica Swift, Kevin Mahogany, Doc Severinsen, Ryan Keberle, Andy Martin, Wycliffe Gordon, Chris Vadala, Manhattan Transfer, Aretha Franklin, Natalie Cole, Bernadette Peters, Lou Rawls, Michael Feinstein, Johnny Mathis, Ben Folds, Bob Newhart, Wayne Newton, the Temptations, the Four Tops, children’s entertainer Shari Lewis, the Chicago Jazz Ensemble, the South Carolina Jazz Masterworks Ensemble, the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra, and the Charlotte Symphony Orchestra. His performances have taken him to the Montreal Jazz Festival, Carnegie Hall, and Chicago’s Jazz Showcase and Orchestra Hall. As a recording artist, Matt will release his third solo recording, Open Spaces, featuring his undergraduate student Adib Young, on OA2 Records, in January 2022. His previous solo recordings, 789 Miles (OA2 Records) and Vortex (self- released), along with his two recordings with the collaborative jazz sextet Unhinged Sextet, Clarity and Don’t Blink (both on OA2 Records), have received worldwide radio airplay and numerous positive reviews, including being featured on Joey Defrancesco’s Sirius/XM radio program “Organized.” Matt has been part of commissions that resulted in new works for the saxophone by composers Frank Ticheli, John FitzRogers, Christopher Dobrian, Don Owens, and Roscoe Mitchell. He has performed and presented master classes at numerous national and regional conferences of the North American Saxophone Alliance, World Saxophone Congress, and the United States Navy International Saxophone Symposium. He has also been a featured guest artist at Northwestern University, Arizona State University, the University of Chicago, the University of North Carolina- Charlotte, the University of Idaho, and high schools throughout the United States. He has published articles in both Downbeat magazine and The Saxophone Symposium, and eJazzlines publishes Matt's original compositions for large jazz ensemble. Matt is active nationally as a clinician and adjudicator.

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33
Album Review

Matt Olson: Open Spaces

Read "Open Spaces" reviewed by Jack Bowers


Pleasurable jazz can sometimes spring forth from what many enthusiasts may consider highly unlikely sources. Such is the case with Open Spaces, an earnest and charming album on which saxophonist Matt Olson ushers a quintet of barely known South Carolinians through its paces in a generally animated session that consists of ten original compositions, every one written by a member of the ensemble. Olson and guitarist Matt Dingledine authored three songs apiece, while bassist Shannon Hoover and alto Adib Young ...

5
Album Review

Matt Olson: 789 Miles

Read "789 Miles" reviewed by Mark Sullivan


Wisconsin-born tenor saxophonist/composer Matt Olson has traveled 789 miles from his childhood home to his current home in South Carolina, where he teaches at Furman University. His original compositions here aim to capture influences from his upbringing, but the present is well-represented by compositions from five Furman University students (graduates and current students). The format is a tight, funky organ trio with two of Olson's band mates in the Unhinged Sextet, last heard from on Don't Blink (OA2 Records, 2017): ...

7
Album Review

Matt Olson: 789 Miles

Read "789 Miles" reviewed by David A. Orthmann


One of the most interesting things about tenor saxophonist Matt Olson's 789 Miles is something it lacks: An anxious, overriding eagerness to impress or knock the listener out at every turn. Instead, the record virtually looks you in the eye, shakes your hand, and then cordially invites you along for the ride. Olson, Hammond B-3 organist Mike Kocour and drummer Dom Moio, who comprise one-half of the notable collaborative ensemble, Unhinged Sextet, are middle-aged jazzmen whose artistry and craft runs ...

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Primary Instrument

Saxophone, tenor

Location

Greenville

Willing to teach

Intermediate to advanced

Clinic/Workshop Information

I work with individual saxophonists and young jazz musicians, and jazz ensembles of all sizes. I focus on being encouraging and helpful, focusing on fundamental skills.

Sonny Stitt
saxophone
Jerry Bergonzi
saxophone, tenor
Michael Brecker
saxophone, tenor
John Coltrane
saxophone
Steve Grossman
saxophone
Charlie Parker
saxophone, alto

Concerts

Music

Recordings: As Leader | As Sideperson

Open Spaces

OA2 Records
2022

buy

789 Miles

OA2 Records
2019

buy

Open Spaces

From: Open Spaces
By Matt Olson

Videos

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