“Contemporary, original, yet still based on those vital ingredients – harmony, melody and rhythm all knit sympathetically together… a fine example of where it’s at… Recommended” Lance Liddle, bebop spoken here
“Play[s] with a maturity surprising in one so young.” Mike Gordon, Scarborough Jazz Festival
Matt Anderson is a tenor saxophonist and composer based in Leeds, England whose playing and writing have been described as “relaxed and elegant, but with wholehearted conviction.” (Leeds Guide) A member of the Jazz Yorkshire Futures scheme, he was also awarded Young Musician of the Year in the Jazz Yorkshire Awards 2010. His music is informed by the great tradition of jazz saxophonists from Sonny Rollins to Chris Cheek, whilst he also takes interest in contemporary approaches to rhythm, harmony, melody and form.
Matt was born in North Yorkshire in 1989 and moved to Leeds in 2007 to study on the BA (Hons) Jazz course at Leeds College of Music, where he studied with Joel Purnell, Tori Freestone and Jez Franks, among others, graduating in 2010 with First Class Honours and also receiving the Sam Hood Rosebowl for Outstanding Performance (Jazz). He has since studied with Iain Ballamy and Stan Sulzmann.
Matt’s main project, The Matt Anderson Quartet, has been hailed as “thoroughly enjoyable” by allaboutjazz.com and “compelling” and “rewarding” by the York Press. His recent ‘Songs of the Ridings’ suite, commissioned by Chrysalis Arts, was described as “bold and ambitious” by the bebop spoken here blog, and included performances at Scarborough Jazz Festival and at jazz clubs across the North of England.
Aside from his own projects, Matt also works with a wide variety of players and composers on the Leeds and U.K. music scenes including Jamil Sheriff, Jamie Taylor, Sam Leak, Kari Bleivik, Matt Roberts, James Hamilton, Garry Jackson, Joost Hendrickx, Stuart McCallum and Nik Svarc, as well as being a member of the Kate Peters Septet and Tesseract.