The final new Quartet video, ‘The Ayes Have It,’ is now online (see below). This one was written back in 2011 just after the U.K. parliament voted to bomb targets in Libya, and as you can imagine it has a bit of a dark vibe.  I’m also indebted to Jiannis Pavlidis on this one as we’ve played this tune a lot over the years, and it was written with him in mind (not because he’s a warmongerer!) Here’s to making music, not war.

It’s Monday, and just as for the next two weeks we have a new video to share as part of the Matt Anderson Quartet St. Mark’s Series.

This track is a kind of pop ballad and it’s called ‘Short Story.’ Hope you enjoy.

I’m excited to present the first of four ‘live in the studio’ videos recorded in May with my new quartet, which features the talents of Ashley Henry (piano), Will Harris (double-bass) and Jay Davis (drums). We’re playing a new original tune called ‘October Ending’ recorded in St. Mark’s church, Marylebone, through the Royal Academy, and there are three more tracks to come – I’ll be uploading these week by week so keep checking back if you want to hear more! Big thanks to the guys for playing so well and to the Academy recording department.

We’ve just released a new video of Jiannis Pavlidis and myself performing ‘Without a Song’ live at Sela Bar, Leeds. It’s shot really well in HD by the folks at Shot by Sodium with sound recording also captured nicely by James Hamilton of New Jazz Records – thanks a bunch to all of these organisations for their help. Enjoy!

The Matt Anderson / Jiannis Pavlidis duo album has now been released online by Leeds-based New Jazz Records – it can be streamed for free on bandcamp or below, or downloaded for a paltry £1.50. Enjoy!

Here’s what we said about it in the press release:

Saxophonist Matt Anderson and guitarist Jiannis Pavlidis have spent a great deal of time playing together over the past five years in a variety of different contexts, however they are at their least constrained and most spontaneous when working in the format of their latest album, where they are heard simply as a duo. On ‘Alone Together’ they build on a shared passion for the music of the Great American Songbook, performing classic songs and jazz standards in an open and sometimes abstract manner which can only be achieved by two musicians with an intuitive feel for each others’ next move.

I’ve now relocated from Leeds to London where I’ll be spending the next two years studying at the Royal Academy of Music for my MA Performance. I’m having an incredible time so far checking out all of the great gigs that are going every single night in this city – highlights from the past week include Hannes Riepler, Felix Rossi and co at the Vortex jam session, George Crowley, Dave Kane and James Maddren at The Con Cellar Bar and the Michael Chillingworth Septet at the Oxford.

In other news, Jiannis Pavlidis and I have our new duo record coming out next Sunday the 20th September. It’s a standards record and will be available online for the mega-low price of £1.50 (although you can pay more if you like!) – see https://www.facebook.com/events/807618512670792/ for more info – we’re also doing a gig at Seven Jazz in Leeds at lunchtime to promote the release.

There’s going to be some big changes for me this autumn, as I’m relocating to London for the foreseeable future to study on the MA course at the Royal Academy of Music. This is very exciting stuff and I can’t wait to start working with a whole bunch of new people as well as catching up with old friends and playing-partners who are already based in the capital, plus it will be amazing to have the opportunity to study full-time again with most of my favourite British jazz musicians!

Some other news is that the Wild Flower Sextet album has now been released digitally so it’s now available on Apple iTunes at this address as well as for streaming on Apple Music.

Finally, there are a couple of collaborations coming up with one of my favourite guitarists, Jiannis Pavlidis. We’ve recorded a duo album which is to be released online through James Hamilton’s New Jazz Records on September 20th with a gig at 7arts in Leeds. The second thing is totally crazy and I don’t want to full-on announce it until it’s confirmed, but it involves a gig at a festival in Jiannis’ hometown of Thessaloniki, Greece, with a legendary American drummer…

Since the release of the Wild Flower album in February we’ve been having a steady stream of reviews coming in which has been great to see.

In print, we’ve been in Jazzwise and Jazz Journal (with 5 stars), and then there’s been the online blogs such as Mike Collins, Adrian Pallant, Ian Mann and Marlbank. Press cuttings are up on the Wild Flower page.

In the same vein, I’ve recently completed an interview/EPK (electronic press kit) for the album which features a load of clips from the album behind me rambling on about various things. You can see it on YouTube here:

In other news, the Jiannis Pavlidis / Matt Anderson duo album is nearing completion – it’s in the final mastering stages now and artwork is being designed. We’re releasing it as an online-only album through New Jazz Records, a great new label set up by James Hamilton, and it should be available in the next month or two.

Just a quick note to say that, as of the 9th of March, the Wild Flower Sextet debut album is now released! You can get a copy from the Jellymould Jazz website (www.jellymouldjazz.net) or this Amazon link.

There are a few more reviews coming in, notably a great one from Adrian Pallant’s blog which you can read here.

The Wild Flower Sextet has been on the road, travelling all across the U.K. with 13 dates to launch the new album! It’s been an incredible experience, both in terms of sharing the stage with these great musicians night after night and getting stuck into our set of music, and for the joy of hanging out and travelling with everyone for two solid weeks, and learning so much about music this way.

We’ve had a few reviews so far – Peter Jones of LondonJazz reviews the CD here: http://www.londonjazznews.com/2015/02/cd-review-wild-flower-sextet-wildflower.html

Ian Mann (the Jazz Mann) reviews our Shrewsbury Jazz gig and the CD here: http://www.thejazzmann.com/reviews/review/wildflower-sextet-the-hive-music-media-centre-shrewsbury-17-01-2015/

Pianist Mike Collins (on his jazz reviews blog) reviews our Bristol, Be-Bop Club gig here: https://jazzyblogman.wordpress.com/2015/02/15/the-wildflower-sextet-bebop-club-bristol-friday-13th-february/

The album is officially released on the 9th March, when it’ll become available to purchase in all the usual places. For a pre-order copy, come to one of the gigs where I have them on sale!

There are two gigs left in the tour – I hope you can make it along!

26th February 2015 – Northants Contemporary Jazz, The Castle, Wellingborough, 8pm – http://ncjazz.co.uk/

27th February 2015 – Birmingham Jazz, The Red Lion, Birmingham, 7:45pm – http://www.birminghamjazz.co.uk/gigs/2015-02-27/wild-flower-sextet