Matt Richards

Ask several listeners to describe Matt Richards’ guitar style and the word jazz will often be mentioned alongside modern acoustic, Spanish and world music – in fact, each reveals a different aspect of Matt’s musical identity. Growing up in the culturally fertile cross-currents of the 1960s, Matt’s musical pathway begins with the mix of folk, rock and psychedelic music that defined that decade. Eventually drawn into the electronic-laden jazz-rock of the 1970s, Matt began developing the techn...

Ask several listeners to describe Matt Richards’ guitar style and the word jazz will often be mentioned alongside modern acoustic, Spanish and world music – in fact, each reveals a different aspect of Matt’s musical identity. Growing up in the culturally fertile cross-currents of the 1960s, Matt’s musical pathway begins with the mix of folk, rock and psychedelic music that defined that decade. Eventually drawn into the electronic-laden jazz-rock of the 1970s, Matt began developing the technically advanced skill and musical abilities demanded by those styles. As his talent grew, Matt was drawn into straight-ahead jazz, classical and world music, playing acoustic guitars and a fretless guitar more frequently. As an acoustic soloist, Matt has been featured on the cable television program Miles of Music with Bob Miles, on the Philadelphia-produced television series Puerto Rican Panorama and in the independent film Smoke And Mirrors. He has performed at the CoreStates and Mellon Jazz Festivals, the Naturist Society’s Eastern and Midwestern Gatherings, National AIDS Awareness Day, Daniel Pearl Day, SUNOCO Welcome America celebrations and numerous clubs and venues. Matt has performed duets with guitarists Larry Coryell, Emiliano Pardo and Sam Gorelik, saxophonist Steve Oliver and bassist Bill Zola, among others. He is also a founding member of the all-acoustic performance group Language of 3. As a sideman, Matt is featured on gospel vocalist Paul Middleton’s CD Keep The Faith (1995) and rock/alternative artist Nate Hawk’s Nathaniel Hawk (1994). Matt has worked in live performances with a broad range of artists, including vocalists Essra Mohawk and Julie Holtzman, bassist Starr Cullars, Arpeggio Jazz Ensemble, saxophonists Bobby Zankel and Steve Oliver, pianists Elio Villafranca and John Conahan, organists Joey DeFrancesco and Herbie Nix, drummers Mike Clark, Kenwood Dennard, Marlon Simon and Adrian Valosin and percussionists Café del Silva and Pablo Batista. With his on-going commitment to music education, Matt is a faculty member at Cheltenham Art & Music Center and the Academy of Community Music. He served as Head of Faculty at the FrankfordStyle School for Creative Arts for eight years. Matt frequently conducts workshops and master classes in conjunction with his performances and is preparing instructional articles detailing his musical approach. Currently, Matt has artist endorsements with Godin Guitars, EMG Pickups and John Pearse Strings. In the summer of 2000, Matt released his first solo CD In This Single Moment on his own FingerMusic label and followed with his second release Dayside in 2004. Matt’s third album, One In Mind, features live group, duo and solo recordings and was released in May of this year. Plans are in place to follow up with a live jazz trio recording in November.