What's my name?
What's my name?

What's my name?

Jonathan Matis (Morris)

Overview
Episodes

Details

My last name is Morris. And also Matis.

Recent Episodes

Blowhards in DC
MAY 20, 2012
Blowhards in DC
The last two weeks have featured a surprising amount of circular breathing.<br /> <br /> Starting with <a href="http://www.nedrothenberg.com/">Ned Rothenberg</a>, who was outstanding as usual. He played a duo show with Ayman Fanous (5/11 at a church in Foggy Bottom). &nbsp;He did one solo piece on alto sax, as well as duos making use of shakuhachi, clarinet, and bass clarinet. Amazing stuff. His new solo clarinet record ("World of Odd Harmonics" on Tzadik) is also excellent. Here's a sample - not from this concert, but recent and similar material:<br /> <br /> <iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="344" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/O13XXZpWHVA?fs=1" width="400"></iframe> <br /> <br /> Then <a href="http://www.iceorg.org/">International Contemporary Ensemble</a> (ICE), (5/17 at Atlas) whose program included a solo bassoon piece that required circular breathing. During that passage, the performer made a porcine snort with each breath. I wonder if that's a function of how much air it takes to work a bassoon vs. a sax or trumpet?<br /> <br /> Then <a href="http://www.travislaplante.com/">Travis Laplante</a> and <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_Evans_(musician)">Peter Evans</a> (5/19 at Back Alley Theater): The final piece of Laplante's set was a long theme and variations form built on a long chant like melody - rendered beautifully in "normal" tones then used as the basis for a series of intense psuedo-polyphonic episodes. I think this is the studio version, it's only the tune that he opened and closed the piece with at the show:<br /> <br /> <iframe allowtransparency="true" frameborder="0" height="100" src="http://bandcamp.com/EmbeddedPlayer/v=2/track=3371601117/size=venti/bgcol=FFFFFF/linkcol=4285BB/" style="display: block; height: 100px; position: relative; width: 400px;" width="400">&amp;lt;p&amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;p&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;a href="http://travislaplante.bandcamp.com/track/the-tear-dam"&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;The Tear Dam by Travis Laplante&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;/a&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;/p&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;lt;/p&amp;gt;</iframe> <br /> <br /> Peter Evans performed what seemed like a quartet for two trumpets, elephant and whale. He played all the parts himself simultaneously on one trumpet.
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Low End String Quartet: commissioning
MAR 17, 2012
Low End String Quartet: commissioning
The Low End String Quartet is commissioning two new pieces, to be premiered in Reston, Virgina on April 14th.<br /><br />One piece is coming from cello superstar <a href="http://zoekeating.com/">Zoe Keating</a>. The other is from experimental guitar virtuoso <a href="http://sarahlipstate.com/wordpress/">Sarah Lipstate</a> (aka Noveller). <br /><br /><a href="http://www.stereophile.com/images/SarahLipstate.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 300px;" src="http://www.stereophile.com/images/SarahLipstate.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br /><br />I'm having some trouble embedding the video here... so you have to click the link to see the video about our project. We're doing a kickstarter-style fundraiser, but on a different platform. One that comes with matching funds and is nonprofit so donations are tax-deductible.<br /><br />Learn more and join in here: <a href="http://bit.ly/yNpdDj">http://bit.ly/yNpdDj</a>
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Repetition Meditation 1
AUG 27, 2011
Repetition Meditation 1
<object height="81" width="100%"> <param name="movie" value="http://player.soundcloud.com/player.swf?url=http%3A%2F%2Fapi.soundcloud.com%2Ftracks%2F22022134"> <param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"> <embed allowscriptaccess="always" height="81" src="http://player.soundcloud.com/player.swf?url=http%3A%2F%2Fapi.soundcloud.com%2Ftracks%2F22022134" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="100%"></embed> </object> <span><a href="http://soundcloud.com/jonathan-matis/repetition-meditation-1">Repetition Meditation 1</a> by <a href="http://soundcloud.com/jonathan-matis">Jonathan Matis</a></span> <br /> <br />Here's a demo of a new piece I'm working on. It's scored for 2 electric guitars and 4 horns. The recording uses fake horns. I'm on the prowl for live human horn players who might help me make an actual recording. <br /> <br />Score is posted <a href="https://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&pid=explorer&chrome=true&srcid=0B69cOhGKP-OLZGJlM2YxYzEtNDUyZC00MDU1LWE4NWUtZDg5NDIzZjBmMDY3&hl=en_US">here</a>.
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New Release: On the inevitability of loss
AUG 9, 2011
New Release: On the inevitability of loss
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjexk1N0vlkgtI1PhFuP_UPIkIu9MpXxZxgzAc7Tymd-Y4d6RqhAqnN1cWKAuMjoiKkkXuCGtDo8FE_8Ta2lRQYdw7BPknJXBqwzS6kuWvAbO_12h_d-PDRwHqY16jPe2UW1QhpZQ/s1600/adams+memorial_crop1v3.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjexk1N0vlkgtI1PhFuP_UPIkIu9MpXxZxgzAc7Tymd-Y4d6RqhAqnN1cWKAuMjoiKkkXuCGtDo8FE_8Ta2lRQYdw7BPknJXBqwzS6kuWvAbO_12h_d-PDRwHqY16jPe2UW1QhpZQ/s400/adams+memorial_crop1v3.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5637726682763456962" /></a><br /><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; "><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; ">Listen and download via <a href="http://jonathanmatis.bandcamp.com/album/on-the-inevitability-of-loss">bandcamp</a>.</span></div><div><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; "><br /></span></div>This is a set of four dark and somber pieces for bass clarinet and cello. (There should be a lot more music written for bass clarinet and cello. Bass clarinetists and cellists should be forming duos all over the place. They could name their group, "Dark and Creepy." In a perfect world, that would happen.)</span><br /><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; font-size: 11pt; background-color: transparent;"></span><br /><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; ">It's not really designed for live performance, but was conceived for realization in the studio. To play it live would require 3 bass clarinetists, at least 5 cellists, and guitar. Most of those people would sit around not playing for most of the time. So, maybe better to think of it as duo pieces, with a few overdubs allowed.</span><br /><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; font-size: 11pt; background-color: transparent;"></span><br /><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; ">I had the idea in the back of my mind for a long time to write duos for those two instruments. They sound so great together. Also, in certain registers, they sound almost identical. I don't think you can find a more homogeneous pairing of wind and string instruments?</span><br /><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; font-size: 11pt; background-color: transparent;"></span><br /><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; ">The first and last pieces of the set are actually the same. First time, done by bass clarinet (with two overdubs), then the work closes with the same material performed by the cello. Track two is a straight-up acoustic duet (without overdubs). Track three is the emotional core of the work, and has the densest sound palette. On that one, I was aiming for something Godspeed You! Black Emporer-esque, but missed and wound up someplace else.</span><br /><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; font-size: 11pt; background-color: transparent;"></span><br /><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; ">Compositionally, all of the music is kept very simple. Partly because of my own simple-mindedness, but partly as a means of maintaining a sense of austerity to balance the dark emotional tone. </span><br /><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; font-size: 11pt; background-color: transparent;"></span><br /><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; ">I ripped off an excerpt of a very old chant melody from the Russian orthodox church, probably inaccurately. There's also a Russian lullaby tune that appears (most clearly in track 2). It also has a dark quality, but at the same time has a sort of naive innocence to it. Most of the other original material is made using the octatonic scale (or what jazz players call the diminished or half-diminished scale). Stravinsky seemed to like it, and he proved again and again that it pairs nicely with Russian folk tunes, so it seemed like a safe bet. And it was.</span><br /><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; font-size: 11pt; background-color: transparent;"></span><br /><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; ">Most importantly, the score includes a great deal of improvisation. The best parts of what you hear were not invented by me, but by the super talented and lovely people that played the piece. They totally killed it. It's a little bit disingenuous to slap my name on there like I "own" it. But I did.</span><br /><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; font-size: 11pt; background-color: transparent;"></span><br /><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; ">The credits:</span><br /><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; font-size: 11pt; background-color: transparent;"></span><br /><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; ">Composed by Jonathan Matis. </span><br /><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; ">Performed by: </span><br /><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; ">Ben Redwine: bass clarinet </span><br /><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; ">Natalie Spehar: cello </span><br /><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; ">Gordon Withers: cello section on track 3, first solo on track 4 </span><br /><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; ">Jonathan Matis: ambient guitar on track 3 </span><br /><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; ">Mixed by T.J. Lipple </span><br /><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; ">Produced by Jonathan Matis and T.J. Lipple</span><br /><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; ">Recorded in Jon's basement</span><br /><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; font-size: 11pt; background-color: transparent;"></span><br /><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; ">If you're curious, the score is <a href="https://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&amp;pid=explorer&amp;chrome=true&amp;srcid=0B69cOhGKP-OLOWRiNjBjZTgtZWE3MC00NGJjLThiYjYtYWUzZjk0MTRlNjIw&amp;hl=en_US">available here</a>.</span><br /><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></span>
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bonus track: bass clarinet & guitar duo
JUN 10, 2011
bonus track: bass clarinet & guitar duo
I'm working on some new music, commissioned by a dance company. It's written for a sweet duo: bass clarinet and cello. I love the way those two instruments sound together.<br /><br />The recording sessions have gone very well. Hiring awesome players is definitely the way to go. They got everything done in one or two takes. <br /><br />We got through the solo bass clarinet music so fast that we had some time to spare before the cellist arrived; so we did a short little improv track together. This won't be included in the dance piece, so from my (metaphorical) editing room floor to you:<br /><br /><object height="81" width="100%"> <param name="movie" value="http://player.soundcloud.com/player.swf?url=http%3A%2F%2Fapi.soundcloud.com%2Ftracks%2F16905206"></param> <param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param> <embed allowscriptaccess="always" height="81" src="http://player.soundcloud.com/player.swf?url=http%3A%2F%2Fapi.soundcloud.com%2Ftracks%2F16905206" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="100%"></embed> </object> <span><a href="http://soundcloud.com/jonathan-matis/bas">Bass Clarinet - Guitar duo</a> by <a href="http://soundcloud.com/jonathan-matis">Jonathan Matis</a></span> <br /><br />Credits:<br />Ben Redwine: Clarinet<br />Me: guitar<br />mixed by TJ Lipple<br /><br />Please enjoy.
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