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Matthew Ottignon's High 5
Matthew Ottignon's High 5 Matthew was born in London, grew up in New Zealand, and graduated from the Sydney Conservatorium of Music. He has been…
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Matthew was born in London, grew up in New Zealand, and graduated from the Sydney Conservatorium of Music. He has been playing music all his life and plays the tenor, alto and soprano saxophones as well as flute and clarinet. Part of a very musical family, brother Aron and sister Holly are performing and living in London, while brother Eden is currently on tour with the show ‘Keating’. Some of the musicians Matthew has performed with are Lou Reed, Jon Stevens, John Waters, Mike Nock, Jackie Orszackzy, James Morrison, John Pochee, Phil Slater and James Greening. Matthew has also recorded with artists such as Tina Harrod, the Whitlams, Portishead, and Jade McRae. Matthew is also a member of the Splinter Orchestra, performs regularly with Peter Morgan and is involved with the Musica Viva program with the Sousaphonics.
Recent albums
INFORMAL TROUPE - Urban Parkland (Jazzgroove) June 2007
EXOTICA - Turkish IV (Jazzgroove)
JAVA QUARTET - In the Swim (Vitamin)
MIKE NOCK BSB PROJECT - Live (ABC)
1. ELVIN JONES - Shinjuku Pitt Inn 2004
Duane Eubanks(tp), Delfeayo Marsalis(tb), Mark Shim(ts), Carlos McKinney(p), Gerald Cannon(b), Elvin Jones(ds)
Elvin’s band was staying at the Hotel where I was working, the Hilton in Shinjuku. They would come down to the bar where I was performing each night after there gigs and hang out. I got quite friendly with Duane Eubanks who was recording each set on video carefully placed on one of the speaker boxes, and he managed to get me some free tickets. Elvin was on fire, from the moment he stepped on stage to the last crash of his cymbals, he was magnetic. I felt humbled and honored to be in the audience that night. He was struggling to breathe though and was finding it hard to talk which made for a very confusing speech before the set. He died only a few months later. May he rest in peace!!
2. DAVE LIEBMAN - 1999-Escola Estudio, Santiago De Compestela, Spain IASJ meeting
This concert took place in an outdoor piazza, or square. I was here for the annual jazz meeting, it was hot and I was sick due to a combination of jet lag and sangria. Dave was performing with local flamenco guitarist/singers. The music was totally improvised as far as I could tell and featured some Spanish modes or scales. The music was thick in the air, you could smell it. What an atmosphere, a million miles away from home, 10pm at night, stars overhead, and a hundred or so people. Dave has an intensity that shone through, building and building throughout the performance.
3. AMON TOBIN - The Knitting Factory New York 1st Feb 2002
Taken from my diary of the time while I was in the states; “WOW! Not only is Amon Tobin a genius but I just finished 3 weeks of a serious music injection. My mind and body will be reeling for eons. From all the promotion and info I had seen on him, I was expecting a cut up jazz breaks type deal. What I got was a peak inside the warped mind of a musical genius. Track after track of mind blowingly good production, from f**ked up trip hop to drill and bass, square-pusher style. A very shy and humble person on stage, with little or no communication with the audience, he still left me feeling refreshed and confident that was creative and meaningful music”.
4. PAUL MOTION TRIO - Village Vanguard June 5th? 2005
Paul Motion dr, Bill Frizell gt, Joe Lovano ten There is a cd out that has some of this music on it, although I am not sure which nights they recorded. Seeing a trio such as this at the Vanguard is a MUST! This place has been home to some of the most influential jazz of all time. One of my favorites being Bill Evans trio, so to see the same drummer perform here was a dream come true. The gig did not disappoint, even though the music was so very different to that of the ’60s. Paul’s playing has evolved to an incredibly pure art form that was great to see live, an exercise in understatement. The same can be said of Bill. Also great to see how he triggered his delays and loops live. Joe took quite an aggressive approach to gig, almost to balance the lightness of the other two.
I feel like I now owe it to all the local musicians both here in Sydney and my hometown Auckland who have inspired me, to say something. So before I make a last high 5 addition, I would like to thank Tim Hopkins, Bernie McGann, Nathan Haines, Andrew Robson, and Jason Jones among others for their inspiring performances.
5. TIM O’DWYER TRIO - Sound Lounge, Sydney, 10th June 2005
Tim O’Dwyer alto Clayton Thomas bass Darren Moore drms I’ve often lamented at the lack of truly inspiring saxophonists performing regularly in this country so this night was a real treat. Tim totally blew me away. I had to take a few deep breaths and just let the music work its magic. The last time I had heard him play he was playing totally improvised and using extended techniques. This time he had a great rhythm section behind him and some great compositions. His sound and energy was powerful. I think he inspired not only the other musicians on stage that night but every one in the room. Sad to say, Tim now lives in Singapore.
