Guitarist Matt Richards finds his occasional identity crisis amusing. "A woman attending one of my solo shows asked me if I knew the other guitarist named Matt Richards who was playing in the area with his jazz trio" he relates. "She seemed stunned when I told her it was me."
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 ja...
Guitarist Matt Richards finds his occasional identity crisis amusing. "A woman attending one of my solo shows asked me if I knew the other guitarist named Matt Richards who was playing in the area with his jazz trio" he relates. "She seemed stunned when I told her it was me."
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, 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 and Emiliano Pardo, saxophonist Steve Oliver and bassist Bill Zola, among others. He is also a founding member of the all-acoustic Language of 3.
As a sideman, Matt is featured on gospel vocalist Paul Middleton’s CD Keep The Faith and rock/alternative artist Nate Hawk’s Nathaniel Hawk. 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. He kicked-off 2009 with the release of Trio a live recording of Matt with the trio in concert.
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