PORT ANGELES — Jazz flugelhornist Dmitri Matheny will return to Peninsula College’s Maier Hall for the fifth time in as many years at 7 p.m. Saturday.
Tickets will be available at the door of Maier Hall, on the Peninsula College campus at 1502 E. Lauridsen Blvd., for $12 general admission and $5 for students with public school or college ID.
Matheny — the winner of Northwest Jazz Instrumentalist of the Year honors in this year’s Seattle Earshot Jazz Golden Ear Awards —has been praised as “one of the most emotionally expressive improvisers of his generation,” by the International Review of Music.
Since Matheny relocated to Centralia, he has more frequently appeared in Seattle, Portland, Tacoma, Everett and Bellingham, as well as Port Angeles, organizers said.
Saturday’s show will feature standards by Louis Armstrong and Jimmy Van Heusen; bebop-era classics by Miles, Bird and Oscar (Pettiford); cinematic themes by Charlie Chaplin, Henry Mancini and John Williams; tunes by Luiz Bonfa and Keith Jarrett; and fresh originals by Matheny and David Jones, head of the music program at Peninsula College.
The ensemble will feature jazz musicians from different groups around the North Olympic Peninsula and the Puget Sound region: Jones on the piano and electric piano, Ted Enderle on bass and Terry Smith on drums.
Matheny has toured extensively throughout the United States, Europe and Asia, organizers said. He has traveled to 19 countries and has performed with many Motown and popular music acts including the Temptations, Martha Reeves, the Four Tops, Frankie Avalon and the O’Jays.
Matheny also has performed in the jazz arena with Larry Coryell, Amina Figarova, Tommy Flanagan, Wycliffe Gordon, John Handy, Billy Higgins, Red Holloway, Charles McPherson, James Moody, Sam Rivers, Max Roach, Sonny Simmons, Billy Taylor and Bobby Watson.
His discography lists over 120 compact discs on which he appears as a composer, arranger, producer, annotator or flugelhorn soloist. He has released 11 albums as a leader: “Red Reflections” (1995), “Penumbra” (1996), “Starlight Café” (1998), “Santa’s Got a Brand New Bag” (2000), “Nocturne” (2005), “The SnowCat” (2006), “Spiritu Sancto” (2007), “Best of Dmitri Matheny” (2008), “Grant & Matheny” (2010) and “Sagebrush Rebellion” (2014).
His latest CD, “Jazz Noir” (2016, BluePort Jazz) offers a fresh spin on crime jazz, film noir and timeless classics. It showcases the talents of “some of the most accomplished musicians in the western United States” (All About Jazz): Bill Anschell, Matt Clark, Nick Manson, Charles McNeal, Susan Pascal, Phil Sparks, Todd Strait, Akria Tana, Jay Thomas and John Wiitala.
Matheny has received several prestigious music awards, including “Talent Deserving Wider Recognition” in the 46th annual Down Beat International Critics Poll and “Best New Artist” honors (with Brad Mehldau, Ravi Coltrane and Stefon Harris) in the 1999 JazzTimes Readers Poll.
He is also a prolific composer and lyricist whose published compositions span the jazz, pop, symphonic, choral, chamber and world music genres.
He has received premieres and commissions from Meet the Composer, St. Domenic’s Church, the Manhattan New Music Project, the American Society of Composers Authors and Publishers (ASCAP) the Jazz Composers Orchestra and 20th Century Forum.
Jones, in addition to heading the Peninsula College music program, has served as director of its Jazz Ensemble since 2008.
He has performed with Bob Curnow, Mike Bisio, Brad Sheppik, Jazz Police, Craig Buhler and many other local jazz musicians.
Jones is also a jazz composer/arranger whose works have been performed by the Bob Curnow Big Band, Jazz Police, Jim Cutler Big Band, Straight No Chaser Big Band (UK), and many college jazz ensemble including those from Indiana University (conducted by David Baker), University of Missouri-Kansas (Bobby Watson), University of Iowa (John Rapson), Rutgers University, University of Washington and Peninsula College.
For more information, contact Jones at djones@pencol.edu or 360-417-6405.
