mattlangley.com

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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!

Beech Ridge Hemlock

Hey all you June Gemini brethren and sistren. I hope you and your twins are finding peace for a moment or two this month. I’m spending alot of this month in the function trenches but there are a couple dependable opportunities to hear me play in public and they all happen to be at establishments with Barley in their names. Coincidence? I think not!
David Tonkin Group – The Barley House – Monday, June 14. Brother Tonkin presides over the first Summer Edition on the monthly Barley House hang. Revelers include Don Williams and Tim Glimore and we often have visitations from Tommy Robinson and Randy Roos. 6-10PM with wine and dinners specials that enhance the incredible musical calisthenics. No audience exercise required but spiritual participation is encouraged.
Mike Walsh Group – The Barley Pub – Sunday June 27. Drummer Mike Walsh gets back to leading a group at Dover’s Musical Mecca. I believe Mr Effenberger and Mr Therrien will also be on board. We’ll tackle some Kurt Rosenwinkle tunes among others. Should be a hoot especially if you’re in the audience hootin’ and hollerin’. Don’t be afraid to shoot some pool either.
Scott Solsky Group – The Barley House – Monday June 28. Scott Solsky’s regular 4th monday at the BH hang with Jared Steer and Jesse Stern. This is a fun group with some funky tendencies..musically! As usual, winde and dinner specials at the Barley House make this an inevitably incredible indulgent experience but you definitely deserve it!
Scott Solsky Group – The Barley House -

I’m loving the weather. Got a great mow in yesterday on the Zool ( checkout the zool page on Facebook and forward it to your friends if you think a pedal powered lawn mower is a good idea!) and gave myself a good blister trying to pull up all the dandelions on my lawn. It’ll never happen but I can make a dent…can’t I!!!?? I’ve been practicing for a couple gigs I have coming up this week. Here’s the info. Come on out and give us a hollah!
Monday, May 3rd – Color at the Press Room 8PM. We just had a great time playing a concert at Governor’s Academy last week ( Thanks Kristen Miller!) and now we’re back at our favorite club for another rockin night. Join us!
Sunday, May 9th – Jared Sims & Matt Langley with the House Band at the Press Room 6PM. I ran into Jared at Alex Alvear’s Birthday Party a couple weeks ago and he mentioned we should get a gig at the Press Room. All it took was a call to Ryan Parker and, lo and behold, we’re going to be playing a night of Lee Konitz and Warne Marshe’s music. I’m sheddin like a banshee. Jared’s a great player and this will be a really fun night. Get on down to the Press Room and bring mom along.
Monday, May 10th – David Tonkin Quartet at the Barley House 6PM. Tonky and the boyz crank out another night of guitar based entertainment David Tonkin styleeee. Randy Roos is known to stop by regularly and we’ve had a few Tom Robinson sightings lately too. Wine specials and great food make this a night not to be missed.
Monday, May 24th – Scott Solsky Quartet at the Barley House 6PM. I’m the lucky boy who gets to play with the hottest guitar players in Concord, NH! This will be a night os Scott’s originals mixed in with some funky stuff and a jazz standard or two. More wine specials and great chow to was down your notes with. Please join us.
Sunday, May 30th – Charlie Jennison, Chris Burbank & Matt Langley with the Ryan Parker Trio at the Press Room 6PM. This is a rare chance for me to play with Charlie Jennison…only the best saxophone player for miles around, that’s all – and Chris Burbank, a fine young trumpet player. We’ll play some three horn charts with Ryan Parker’s Sunday Night at the Press Room trio. Come on in and hear a great night of music…please?!
That’s all for now. Thanks for supporting live music. See you soon!

Matt Langley and Jamie Decato at the Press Room

Sorry man, it’s still too $%^& cold in the morning to pedal to work and it’s a real drag because the afternoons are perfect! Are you pedaling to work? Play? I did manage to take a bike ride this past sunday. Took my favorite route out Beech Ridge Rd, across route one to southside rd then over to 103, down to Kittery and up the backside of Eliot. Pretty much kicked my butt…BUT, it felt GREAT and made me jones for more! Wished I had the camera along because there’s a spot on 103 just south of York, on the left hand side, headed south, that looks out over the salt marsh…a spot untouched by progress…that just cranked my head around. I’d just like to float out there in a rowboat and hangout for a couple hours…days…YEARS!
Speaking ’bout the HANG…let’s talk music for a moment or two.
Sunday, April 18, 11AM-2PM – Jazz Brunch at Clay Hill Farm. This is a chance to visit one of southern Maine’s fine dining establishments, tucked in the woods near Ogunquit Maine, to enjoy a relaxing brunch while listening to a rare duo performance by myself and Matt Jenson. Reservations are suggested!
Sunday, April 18, 8PM – 11PM, Jim Rudolph Group, The Barley Pub, Dover, NH. Drummer Jim Rudolph leads the band at the Pub tonight with Trumpeter Chris Burbank, Myself in the front line. Should be a great night of music and a fun hang.
Sunday, April 23, 8PM – 11PM, Aporkalypse Now – SCF at Buoy Gallery, Kittery, Maine. The Porkys are back with Nate Therrien, Chris Klaxton, Mike Effenberger, Andres Espinosa, Jonny Peiffer, Nick Mainella and myself. We’ll each bring in two charts and present a night of music arranged exclusively for this group. The Buoy is a great room to hear music. The acoustics are great and with a band this size you get close!

The Aporky Horns

We’re going on vacation this month!!! Out to visit the kids in Montana and California, but before we go….you gotta come checkout the PMAC Jazz Faculty Recital at the West End Theater, this Saturday, March 6th! We’ve got a great band featuring Chris Klaxton on Trumpet, Nate Therrien on Bass, Mike Effenberger on Piano, Mike Walsh on Drums, Brian Killough on Guitar and Russ Grazier on Saxophones.
When we get back, I’ll hit Empire in Portland, ME on March 25th for a night of big band music with the Fogcutter Big Band, Portland’s hottest new big band playing some of the Ellington’s wonderful big band charts among many others.
Sunday, March 28th, I’ll head back up to JOSA in Grantham, NH to join the house band in welcoming saxophonist Cercie Miller.
Monday, March 29th I’ll be back at the best music venue in the Northeast; The Press Room in Portsmouth, NH for a night with Color featuring Jamie Decato on Drums and Chris Decato on keys and bass.
I’ll keep you posted on more music in April! In the meantime, I’ve been bending a lot of ears in the past few months about my new human powered lawn tractor. Well the cat’s out of the bag now! The builder of my bike is Ted Wojcik of Ted Wojcik Custom Cycles and Ted just got back from the North American Hand Made Bike Show where he featured the mower along with a collection of his other bikes. Seems the mower has started to cause a bit of a stir…read the cycleisious article.

A new decade?! Zoiks!! I was just getting used to the last one. Ahhh, what is time, anyway other than something to mess with when you’re making music or something to ignore when you’ve got some to yourself. Personally, I won’t miss ’09 a bit and that is just about that! Here are a few opportunities to mark the passage of time with some sweet sounds in the crispy, crackly brand spankin’ new weeks of 2K10.
Monday, Jan 11 – The FTET at the Press Room – Mike Effenberger’s take on an organ based quartet featuring Chris Klaxton on trumpet and Jim Rudolph on drums. Tunes ranges from Shorter to Radiohead to Monk to Pink Floyd to….Come on in and soak up some sounds and suds.
Sunday, Jan 17 – JOSA with Greg Abate – I’ll make the pilgrimage to Grantham NH to perform with Bill Wightman and the JOSA band along with featured artist Greg Abate. Should be a great time with Tim Gilmore on Drums, Don Williams on Bass, Bill on piano and other special guests. Details and ticket info here: josajazz.com
Friday, Jan 22 – Jazz in January at Concord Community Music School – The annual faculty jazz concert at CCMS is always a sellout so get your tickets early! Featuring David Tonkin on Guitar, Tom Robinson on Piano, Tim Gilmore and John Faggiano on Drums and Richard Gardzina on Saxophones. More details and ticket info here: ccmusicschool.org
Saturday, Jan 30 – Boogaloo Nights at The Press Room - Jim Dozet’s bumpin’ quartet with Chris Thurston on Drums and Jeremy on B3, playing a rockin’ night of boogaloo grooves. Join us on the dance floor.
Sunday, Jan 31 – Composer’s Forum at The Buoy, Kittery, ME - Aporkalypse Now (the composer’s forum) features a host of composers from the seacoast and beyond – Mike Effenberger, Nate Therrien, Chris Klaxton, Jonny Peiffer, Andres Espinosa, and more – in a monthly performance of original works and arrangements performed by the composers and arrnagers themselves.  This month we feature arrangements of the compositions of Charles Mingus. More details here:  buoygallery myspace page

Just talked to my son and he sounded great. I’m thankful for that! Un-seized the wheel on my yike-zool-triketor this afternoon and buzzed around the yard like a fiend…I’m thankful for that! Helped pammie clean up after she cooked up some Lobster Mac and Cheese for our friend who busted his ankle walking his dogs…I’m thankful for that! There’s alot to be thankful for! Here are a few gigs I’m thankful to have…

Sunday, November 22nd – Aporkalypse Now at The Buoy, Kittery Maine – This is the Seacoast composer’s band affectionately known as Aporkalypse Now, and this is the second of our “Second To Last Sunday of Every Month” (got all that?!) gigs. This month we’re all arranging Charles Mingus’ music for the group. I love Mingus’ music so I can’t wait to check out everyone’s take. The band currently consists of Mike Effenberger on keys, Johnny Peiffer on Drums, Nate Therrien on Bass, Nick Mainella on Saxes, Chris Klaxton on Trumpet and Myself on saxes. The Buoy is a great sounding room and it’s BYOB so you can relax and take it all in at your own pace!

Saturday, November 28th – David Tonkin Quartet at Stella Blue, Nashua NH – Old pal Tonky invited me to join him at Stella Blue on the 28th…I’m thankful for that!…Nashua is having some sort of downtown celebration and Jared at Stella Blue – a huge Tonkin fan – want’s to augment the band for the occasion. Well awrighty Jared…we’ll be having a great time playing everything from Ornette Coleman to the Beatles and everything in between. Stella Blue is an excellent restaurant with delicious food and a smoking wine list. You’re sure to enjoy it!

That’s it for now. Some stuff coming up in December but I’ll wait until early in December to unwrap that for you. Until then, I’m thankful you stopped by and if you get a chance to get out and support the arts this month, your generosity will be met with thanks from those you visit!

The air is getting crisp. The mornings are chilly and dark. Leaves are blowing everywhere and the colors are getting more stunning by the day. Fall is taking over. That also means more teaching, lots of rehearsals and some much needed time in the woodshed…putting away the massive pile of wood…and ironing out a wrinkle or two or a couple hundred in the technique. Hopefull you’re chipping away at your “woodpile”…now, for a few gigs to warm your earlobes at, please read on!
Sunday, October 3rd – 8PM – The FTET at The Barley Pub, Dover, NH. The control of the FTET returns to its creator, Mike Effenberger after a successful hijacking I pulled off last week. We’ll put a unique spin on a great collection of tunes from Pink Floyd, Monk, Radiohead, Jefferson Starship…you get the idea! Bring your thirst for music and great beer and I’m confident you’ll go away happy.
Monday, October 12th – 8PM – David Tonkin Group at the Barley House, Concord, NH. Tonky, Donnie, Timmy and Myselfski, getting down on an eclectic repertoire of tunes. Rumor has it Randy Roos may show up this week, Tommy Robinson usually pokes his head in and Richard Gardzina has been know to fly in as well. Should be fun per usual.
Sunday, October 18th – 8PM – Aporkalypse Now at the Barley Pub, Dover, NH. A composer collective featuring Jonny Peiffer, Mike Effenberger, Nate Therrien, Chris Klaxton, Nick Mainella, Aaron Hartley, Myself and….did miss anyone? All orginal tunes or original arrangements for the group.
Sunday, October 25th – 8PM – Aporkalypse Now at the Buoy, Kittery ME. Johnny Peiffer and the folks at the Buoy have been working hard on putting together a regular monthly venue for this group. This will be the first of what we hope are many great nights at the Buoy. Join us for an exciting night of creative, original music.
Saturday, October 31st – 9PM – ILevel at the Press Room, Portsmouth, NH. I’ll be masquerading as a member of Matt Jenson’s ILevel. T’row on the costume and come dance to a kickin’ mix of reggae and latin tunes at Portsmouth’s best live music venue.