MATT BLAIR QUARTET

A BlueStem Presentation

Matt Blair. piano - Will Greene, guitar, Saxophone - Brian courage. bass - Devin Gray, drums

Matt Blair is a pianist, composer, multimedia artist, and educator living in Madison, Wisconsin. His work draws upon diverse musical traditions such as jazz and improvisation, sound art, minimalism, and electronic music.

Since 2018, Matt has been releasing music on his label, Scribbled Fang Records. Recent releases have included Shadow Sets, a collection of compositions for solo piano that was produced by Dave King (The Bad Plus, Happy Apple), Post Rock Lately, the debut record of Collector, an improvising trio featuring Jakob Heinemann on bass and Devin Drobka on drums and electronics, and Flights and Poor Health Good Spirits, both releases by Big Thanks, a Minneapolis-based Trash House trio featuring Miles Allen on saxophone and clarinet and Jack Lussenden on drums. Other recent releases have included After Party (out on Dinzu Artefacts), the debut record of Yins, an electronic duo with Devin Drobka, and Resorts (out on Shifting Paradigm Records), a piano trio featuring Devin Drobka’s compositions with Aaron Darrell on bass.

Will Greene plays guitar and saxophone and currently resides in Brooklyn, NY. He improvises and writes music based on what he would like to hear. Generally, Will is fascinated by repurposing old, almost-forgotten sounds, finding new, soon-to-be-forgotten sounds, and exploring dynamic and physical limits in their extremes. Will is a member of avant-thrash outfit TRIGGER, the sci-fi country band DRESSAGE, and italo-prog-pop ensemble TREDICI BACCI. He is also proud of and grateful for his past and ongoing collaborations that have taken him across the United States and several continents. A woefully abbreviated list of these collaborators: Joe Morris, Raf Vertessen, John Zorn, Elias Stemeseder, Zoe Christiansen, Kenny Wollesen, Max Jaffe, Henry Fraser, Carrie Furniss, Daniel Pencer, and Jesse Heasly.

Originally from Long Island, NY, bassist Brian Courage has spent the last decade as an integral part of the creative music scenes in Minneapolis, Brooklyn, and now Chicago, where he currently resides. He has performed alongside an extensive array of nationally acclaimed improvisers, including Greg Ward, Jon Irabagon, Lew Tabackin, David Hazeltine, Jason Stein, Weasel Walter, Michael Lewis, Erik Fratzke, Russ Johnson, JT Bates, and Billy Mintz. Brian is adept at a wide range of styles and has performed with the Minnesota Orchestra, renowned vocal quartet The Four Freshmen, the Chicago Tap Theater, and the New York based Americana / blues rock band Hollis Brown, with whom he toured the US and Europe extensively. His most recent creative endeavor is Abhorrent Expanse, a fully improvised metal band. Their debut album "Gateways to Resplendence" has been featured in prominent outlets including Decibel, Metal Injection, Burning Ambulance, and Wire Magazine.

Devin Gray is a distinguished drummer, composer, bandleader and producer‬‭ known for his innovative contributions to contemporary jazz. Since relocating to New York City in‬‭ 2006, Gray has become a prominent figure in the jazz community, collaborating with esteemed‬‭ musicians such as David Liebman, Gary Thomas, Tony Malaby, and Kris Davis. He currently‬‭ divides his time between Brooklyn and Berlin, engaging with diverse musical scenes.‬‭

Gray’s discography as a leader showcases his versatility and commitment to pushing musical‬‭ boundaries. His debut album, “Dirigo Rataplan” (2012), featured notable artists Ellery Eskelin,‬ ‭Dave Ballou, and Michael Formanek, and was praised for its complex and intimate compositions.‬‭ He continued this trajectory with “RelativE ResonancE” (2015), collaborating with Chris Speed,‬‭ Kris Davis, and Chris Tordini, further establishing his reputation as a forward-thinking composer.‬

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