mattlangley.com

Window on wild weather

The snow keeps flying up here in the northeast. This last one dumped a huge pile, on top of a huge pile, on top of a huge pile…you get the idea. We’ve got some SNOW! It’s actually really beautiful up here in the sticks but not so nice in the city I’m sure. It’s a real New England winter so I’m going to enjoy it! Here are a few events coming up to help you cure your cabin fever…
TONIGHT – 2/4/11 – Luther Gray’s Ultraseven – Outpost 186, Cambridge, MA 8PM – Luther Gray’s Outpost 186 Series takes a new turn with Ultraseven featuring Matt Langley, Andy Voelker, Charlie Kohlhase – saxes / Junko Simons – cello / Jacob William – bass / Pandelis Karayorgis – piano and Luther on Drums. Immediately following there will be a set by Auddity: Eric Dahlman – trumpets,voice, percussion / Michael Knoblach – percussion / Erik Nugent – slide clarinet, slide bagpipes, didjeridoo, throat singing. Should be a great night of sounds and sights. The space is small so get there early! $10 Suggested donation.
Monday, February 7th, Aporkaplypse Now, The Press Room, 8PM – The composer’s forum makes their first foray into the Press Room monday night jazz series bringing a great selection of originals and arranged standards. This is a very unique band featuring some of the seacoast’s finest musicians; Mike Effenberger on keys, Nate Therrien on Bass, Jonny Peiffer on Drums, Zach Lange on Trumpet, Nick Mainella and Matt Langley on Saxes. This is one you shouldn’t miss!
Wednesday, February 9th, FTET, The Barley Pub, Dover NH, 9:30 – The FTET hits the home turf at the Barley Pub for a night of great music, great beer and good times. Mike Effenberger on B3, Jim Rudolph on Drums, Nick Mainella and Matt Langley on Saxes. C’mon out and lend an ear or two!
Friday, February 11th, Jonny Peiffer Trio, Kittery Art Association, 7:30PM – Jonny Peiffer is a talented lad at home on the piano, the drumset or the dance floor. Tonight he’ll share his compositions from the piano and myself and Nate Therrien will join him. Jonny writes in many styles. We’ll perform tunes from some of his plays along with other music he has written and transcribed. The Kittery Art Association is an intimate place to hear music with limited seating so get there early.
Saturday, February 12th, Grupo Mofongo, York Harbor Inn, York Maine – Andres Espinosa is my neighbor up here in the little hamlet of Eliot, Maine. He also happens to be a scholar on the subject of African rhythms currently pursuing his doctorate at BU while also teaching at BU and U Maine Augusta. How he finds time to lead Grupo Mofongo…I don’t know…but this is agreat group of musicians on the 12th, we’ll perform in the name of LOVE. Grab your valentine…gently man, gently…and bring her/him/…to the York Harbor Inn for a night of dining, dancing and serious romancing! Salsa lesson will be available so arrive early and ENJOY!
Sunday, February 13th, Jazz Service, 2nd Chrisitian Congregational Church, Kittery Maine - Pastor Brad Hirst and Music Director Mike Effenberger bring the 2nd Sunday Jazz service to life with the 2nd Christ Congo Choir and congregation. This church has a great vibe and you should really experience it for yourself, on the 2nd Sunday of every month in the winter, or any Sunday for that matter.
Sunday, February 13th, JOSA Jazz With Giacomo Gates, Eastman, Grantham, NH – I’ll make another pilgrimage to northern New Hampshire’s bi-weekly wintertime jazz mecca: the JOSA series at Eastman hosted by Bill Wightman. Bill has been rocking the JOSA shows for 19 YEARS now, bringing the finest jazz talent to the frozen north. This Sunday vocalist Giacomo Gates will return with his baritone voice and dry sense of humor to deliver JOSA for lovers. We’d love for you to be there.
Monday, February 21st, Pandelis Karayorgis’ System of 5 CD Release, The Lily Pad, Cambridge, MA – Pianist Pandelis Karayorgis’ System of 5 celebrates the release of System of 5 on Hatology. This is a wonderful group featuring Pandelis Karayorgis on piano, Luther Gray on Drums, Jef Charland on Bass, Jeff Galindo on Trombone and Myself on Saxophones. Pandelis’ music is very unique in every aspect; arrangements, melodies, solo combinations and he wrote this material with these artists in mind blurring the lines between composition and improvisation. This will be a special night of music and copies of the new CD will be available at the show.

I Don’t know about you but I’m thinking this little cold snap is a corker! We’re ripping through the wood pile like nobody’s business! But you didn’t come here to listen to me whine, did you? Here’s the lowdown on a couple gigs on the horizon.

Sunday, January 16 – JOSA With Greg Abate – Eastman, Grantham, NH – Bill Wightman brings altoist Greg Abate to JOSA this Sunday 4-7PM. Greg is a great player and we had a blast on this gig last year so blow off the Patriots game and make the pilgrimage to Grantham for some swinging music, great food and wonderful people.

Monday, January 17 – FTET at the Press Room, Portsmouth, NH 8PM – The Martin Luther King Day version of the FTET will feature a special half hour set from the Leftist Marching Band at 7PM followed by the FTET at 8PM. I’m hoping to coax a few leftists to hang around and Le -FTET – ist up the joint. Personally, I’ve been thinking about the correlations of Dr. King’s message to the uprising of the people of Tunisia. I’ll try to keep my horn in my mouth and let the political diatribe pour forth in the form of urgent music…but I may yammer on a bit too. This band features the greatest rhythm section of every band in the seacoast; Mike Effenberger on the Hammond B3 and his bro-of-the-beard Jim Rudolph on the tubs. Another seacoast stalwart, Nick Mainella, will join me on saxophones and clarinet for what will definitely be a great night of tunage. Please make the hang.

Friday, January 21, Jazz In January, Concord Community Music School 7 & 9 PM – The annual Jazz Faculty Recital at CCMS is always a fun event. Featuring catering by Hermano’s In Concord, this is a great place to hear a show and we have a good one in store for you this year. Join Tom Robinson on Piano, Tim Gilmore on Drums, John Faggiano on Drums, Don Williams on Bass, David Tonkin on Guitar, Richard Gardzina on Saxes and myself for an entertaining night of music. Get your tickets early, this show sells out every year!

Monday, January 24th, Scott Solsky Quartet, The Barley House, Concord, NH 6-9PM – The Barley House has become the jazz center of Concord – in addition to Hermano’s, of course – with their steady Monday night jazz series. Join Scott Solsky on Guitar, Jared Steer on Drums, Jesse Stern on Bass and myself for a night of great music. The Barley House features wine and food specials on monday to make it an irresistable way to chill after your work day!

Some upcoming highlights…Friday, February 4th at Outpost 286 in Cambridge with Luther Gray, Charlie Kohlhase, Pandelis Karayorgis, Jacob William on Bass and possibly a few more. Friday February 11th with Jonny Peiffer and Nate Therrien at the Kittery Art Association. More on these soon!

A Dirty January in the County!

Happy ’11 to all! I hope this is a prosperous and wonderful New Year for each and every one of you. This Holiday season has been great with plenty of time to hang with friends and family. I feel very fortunate to have such a wonderful family and close friends. Here’s some music I’d love to share with you.
Monday, January 3rd, 8PM – Aporkalypse Now & Jazzsputin & The Jug Skunks at the Red Door. Portsmouth, NH. The Seacoast Composer’s Forum…dubbed Aporkalypse Now…in an all-to-rare local appearance. Featuring Jonny Peiffer on drums, Nick Mainella on Saxes, Zach Lane on trumpet, Nate Therrien on bass and Mike Effenberger on keys. Featuring compositions by all members of the band ranging from moody modal jazzers to off kilter funk romps, the writing and playing is always adventurous! The Jug Skunks follow with the effortlessly entertaining Steve Roy’s take on viper jazz and so much more. How much entertainment can you handle!!!??
That’s it for now…more news shortly!

Sammy guards the zip-tie tree

It’s that time of year again. The Holidaze. Not being directly involved in retail has made this a great holiday season. I’m usually pretty laid back anyway, but this year there’s no pressure at all, just the holiday spirit which is actually quite nice! Okay, all is not well in the world for sure…the President I voted for just sold me out and decided to make this a windfall holiday for billionaires once again…$%^^(*&^…I’ve got nothing against billionaires, mind you, I just don’t think they are the ones that need a break. I’m not too surprised though. When you put a bunch of millionaires in charge of things you gotta know that their number one priority will be making sure they remain millionaires and also making sure that possibly someday they’ll have a chance at the big money! Ugh…the “system” is truly broken from my point of view but from theirs it’s working just fine!
Anyhow, the holidays! Yeah, good times. Friends, family, pets……a moment of silence please for the passing of Oscy the Oscar Fish. His last days were not fun for him but he will be remembered fondly for his penchant for snapping at the fingers that fed him…hmm, a politician in a former life?…..Sammy Claus over to your left here is keeping a watch on our freshly minted Zip-Tie tree. Pam loves to cut trees out of our woods for Christmas trees and this year she had a great idea. Grab two spindly hemlocks and put them together to form one slightly less spindly Charlie Brown hemlock tree. Two trees, a few zip-ties and a couple cups of Baileys and Coffee later, Sammy is proudly hangin’ in front of a zippy (ugh!) new tree.  It kinda makes it feel like you’re sitting outside because these trees are all over the place here. Hope your holiday hangs are happy and you get to spend some time with the ones you care about. Here are a few opportunities to hear some music in the next few weeks. Hope to see you!
Sunday, December 12 – Second Christian Congregational Church, Kittery, ME – 10AM The second Sunday jazz service tradition continues with music director Mike Effenberger on the piano, Jim Rudolph at the mini kit and Myself quietly sub-toning away. Rev. Brad Hirst always has a few surprises in his sermons and we try to respond in kind. Join us!
Monday, December 13 – The Barley House, Concord, NH – 6PM Take a break from the holiday blitz with the David Tonkin Quartet. David on guitars, Don Williams on Bass, Tim Gilmore on drums and Myself on saxamaphones. Lot’s of people beck in town for the holidays, why not stop in and play a tune or two!
Thursday, December 16 – The Press Room, Portsmouth, NH – The Tim Webb Group – 8PM Bassist Tim Webb leads tonight at the Press Room. Should be a great night of music so please come in and join us. Bring your horn!
Saturday, December 18 – St. Andrews Presbyterian Church, Kennebunk, ME – Chris Humphrey Big Band - Chris’ big band will play a concert to benefit a local charity. This is a great band featuring many of the finest musicians of the great state of Maine. Chris is a great band leader and puts on a wonderful show and this church is his home turf!
Friday, December 24th – Second Congregational Church, Kittery Maine – Christmas Eve Jazz Service – 11PM Make your Christmas Eve Church visit a jazzy one this year with Rev. Brad Hirst, the 2CCUCC choir and trio.
Monday, December 28th – The Barley House, Concord, NH – Scott Solsky Quartet – 6PM Just over the Xmas hump and headed for New Years, you deserve a burger and a beer and an earful of great tunage. This is just the hang for you. 6PM start ensures you’ll be home in time to start sawing logs before the chariot turns back into a pumpkin. Scott Solsky is keeping Concord cool according to the local press and Jared Steer, Jesse Stern and myself are along for the ride hoping some of that coolness will manifest itself in the form of transcendental communication…hows ’bout you?

remember...

Fall feels particularly frenetic to me this year. I love this time of year for the colors and the crisp air. The frosty mornings that give way to warm afternoons. The smell of leaves on the ground and wood stoves kicking into gear. The other thing I love about fall is that it’s always a great creative time of year. Lots of ideas popping into the noggin…everyone is working on stuff for school or for groups that they didn’t have time/energy/desire to tackle in the steamy summer months. I guess the harried feeling for me is the fact that in the fall, there is a firm schedule in place that will be there until next spring! YIKES!
Truthfully, I’m way less harried than last year at this time because I don’t have to go to “work”. No day job…ahhhh…repeat…ahhh…there, the angst is fading. Now I’m living my work. I don’t have a “job”. I love teaching, playing, rehearsing, writing charts, coaching ensembles, learning from my students and fellow musicians. I’m very lucky and I will stop whining about frenetic fall foibles right now. Thanks for working through that with me! Bring on the saturated schedule, bunches of bands, day and night driving delirium. I’m ready to hit it! Okay, for some music…
PMAC Faculty Concert: Arts Matter – Friday October 22, Rye Congregational Church. Come on out and support the arts! PMAC faculty members donate their time to present a great show featuring all types of classical, jazz and contemporary ensembles and all types of music. Tickets are available by calling PMAC or the night of the concert.
Scott Solsky Quartet – The Barley House, Concord, NH – Monday October 25th. Guitarist, Scott Solsky, drives the Barley House bus tonight with co-pilots Langley, Jared Steer and Jesse Stearn. This is a funky band that has been playing regularly for a while now and has started to develop  nice group sound. The Barley House is becoming the monday night jazz hang in Concord, NH by featuring great music, and wine specials each week to compliment your meal. Come on in and bring your instrument if you would like to sit in! The more the merrier!
Matt Jenson’s I-Level – Halloween Party! – The Press Room, Portsmouth, NH – Saturday, October 30th. Jenson’s I-Level is a reggae/latin dance party waiting to happen and this year it happens on Halloween Eve! Get your ghoul on an DANCE! Special line-up this year includes Woody Allen on Guitar, Pablo Bencid on drums and Fez on bass. We’ll get the PR rockin’ so please don’t miss it!
Charlie Kohlhase’s Explorer’s Club – Woodford’s Congregational Church, 202 Woodford St., Portland, ME – Saturday November 6th. Paul Lichter’s Dimensions in Jazz Series presents the Explorer’s Club on a long overdue visit to Portland Maine! We’ll have Charlie, Myself, Jeff Galindo, John Funkhouser on Bass, Mike Connors on Drums and Eric Hofbauer on Guitar. This is a great sounding room and the EC has been performing fairly regularly so this should be a very special show. Join us!
That’s it for now. Let’s all go out and hear some live music or see a local show or go to an art opening or…

bahbahquein

That’s it. Kids go back to school and it starts getting dark earlier and the leaves turn colors and, and, and, and…so it goes. Hi Ho. This has been the summer of the vegetable at the Langley household. Miss Pam kicked some major compost and turned out tomatoes extraordinaire, cucumbers colossus, string bean wizardry, basil bountifitude, maine melonary magic, edible eliot jalapenos…the list goes on and on. We’re already planning MORE for next year! Is there no end to our gluttony or have we finally discovered how to use some of the land around here to feed ourselves? Hmmm. Some music fer ya?…
Saturday, September 11th – FTET at Concord City Arts 11AM – This day too shall go down in infamy. The first FTET gig without Klaxton proves to be a great one with Nick Mainella filling the chair. OK, I don’t mean to belittle the memory of those who lost their lives on 9/11……silence…..we will spread cheer.
Sunday, September 12 – Jazz Service at 2nd Christian Congregational Church in Kittery 10AM – The Jazz Services at 2nd Christ Congo are BACK! Effenberger directs the choir, Jim Rudolph and Myself in musical accompaniment to pastor Brad Hirst’s inspiring sermons. Join us and enjoy!
Sunday, September 12 – FTET at the Barley Pub, Dover NH 8PM - The FTET in their natural habitat. Surrounded by good beer and such. You simply have to try all the beers at the Barley Pub, not all tonight mind you, but over time. This will be a perfect night to start, or continue, your conquest. Eff on the B3, Jim Rudolph on the tubs, Nick Mainella on reeds and Langley on saxamaphones. Mmmm, good with beer.
Monday, September 13 – David Tonkin Quartet at the Barley House, Concord, NH 6PM – The planets align and I get to do the New Hampshire Barley tour once again. Tonight with Tonkey’s Marauders at the sumptuous Barley House in Concord NH. There will be wine specials and hearty music on tap with David Tonkin twangin the geetahhh, Don Williams molesting the basses, Tim Gilmore caressing the skins and Langley filling the brass tubes with tepid air. Sounds enticing, eh?
Monday, September 27th – Scott Solsky Quartet at the Barley House, Concord, NH 6PM – Back to the Barley for another great night with guitarist Scott Solsky. This is a fun band that stretches the jazz Quartet repertoire in unexpected directions. Scot on Guitar, Jared Steer on Drums and Jesse Stearn on Bass. Wine specials and tasty music make for a great capper to manic monday!
That’s it for now…hope to see you at one of these gigs or at someone else’s gig. Thanks for supporting live music!

.`.`.`#!#`.`.`.

I am a musician. It’s in my blood. My mother was a musician.  My father was a math genius. I got the musician gene sprinkled with the math gene. I have played music in some form or another since I was 9 years old. The math gene manifested as a computer/ graphic designer gene which I have entertained since I was in my early twenties. The computer/graphic designer/database dabbler/web geek gene has been good to me and I will always be feeding that gene with whatever I can toss it in the form of design work/web work etc. This pursuit has occupied a lot of my time in the last 25 years and has kept a roof over my head and has enabled me to raise a family. Music has always been my passion and it has taken me to many places, literally and figuratively. I’m incredibly lucky to have been blessed with such a wealth of opportunity. In a couple days I am saying goodbye to the safety net of a regular job and I’m going to see where the music will take me. It’s very exciting and I consider myself lucky to be in this position at this time of my life. I’ll keep you posted on my progress!
Oh yeah, I had an idea a while back that involved a human powered lawn mower. Who knows where this came from but this is coming into play too. I’ll keep you posted on that one too. Seems the Gemini twins will never be one but I’ll attempt to narrow it down a little if it is even possible with this set of genes!
Here are some opportunities to hear some music I am involved in..
Wednesday, August 18 – Charlie Kohlhase Explorer’s Club – Johnny D’s, Somerville, MA. The Explorer’s Club big band hits Johnny D’s with some new Kohlhase material and some chestnuts too. We’ll have Kohlhase and Langley on saxes, Jerry Sabatini on trumpet, Jeff Galindo on trombone, Jef Charland on Bass, Miki Matsuki on Drums, Eric Hofbauer on Guitar and Mike Connors on drums and various percussion instruments. After we play the Sonic Explorers will take the stage and there will be some transitional tunes with the entire band. Should be a great night of music!
Monday, August 23 – Scott Solsky Quartet – Barley House, Concord, NH. Guitarist Scott Solsky’s band featuring Jared Steer on Drums and Jesse Stearns on bass. The Barley House has become THE jazz hang in Concord New Hampshire and I fortunate to be there with Scott and the boys for a night of Jazz peppered with current jazz, originals and standards too. Great food and libation selection and an early start time – 6PM – make for a perfect monday night!
That’s it for now…there’s some noise about a gig or two up Portland with the legendary Franklin Street Arterial in august while Dave Bowler is in town. I’ll try to give you a heads up. Keep practicing!