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Featured
Musician - June 2008
Name
: Willie Matheis
Instrument: tenor and soprano saxophone
Early Years/Education:
Grew up in Bellingham, Washington in a household where there was always
music going on. My father played guitar and was in some garage bands.
When I was in the 4th or 5th grade, I expressed an interest in the
saxophone so my parents rented an alto sax for me and arranged
lessons with Ray Downey. One Christmas my parents got me tapes of
Charlie Parker and Branford Marsalis, that was how I first heard jazz.
I didn't really get into it until midway through high school. Lester
Young's album, “All of Me” really got me hooked. I was in
the high school jazz band and had some fun. I tried out again my junior
year and didn't make the cut. I realized how much I missed playing the
music, I was really bummed. My parents saw this and they suggested I
take lessons again; that's when I really started learning theory. That
summer Ray Downey was remodeling his house so some of his students got
to trade labor for music lessons. The following year I tried out again
for the jazz band and got in.
After high school I went to Western Washington University and had the
great fortune of studying with bassist Chuck Israels for a few years
and also saxist Mike Allen from B.C. Around the time I was studying
with Chuck, he had just met Portland guitarist Dan Faehnle. Chuck
brought Dan up to Bellingham to do clinics and hang out, so I got to
play with him. Dan suggested to me and fellow student Eli Reisman
(guitarist) that we should come and check out Portland. Dan took us to
Produce Row (for the jam session) and introduced us all around.
Everyone was so warm and inviting and the general vibe was similar to
Bellingham. This was around '98, so by July of '99 Eli and I moved to
Portland. As musicians we wanted to learn more, so I enrolled at
Portland State University. There I studied with Darrell Grant, Charlie
Gray and Rob Scheps.
Cruise Ships: I got
to a point where I needed to support myself, so I dropped out of PSU
and embarked on a five year period playing on cruise ships. It's kind
of like finishing school but also a nightmare. My first contract was
for seven months, twenty-seven weeks straight for Carnival cruise
lines. The ship was called “The Destiny” and held eleven
hundred people. For the first time in my life I was in a situation
where I didn't know anybody. Dave Fulton, the music director/ band
leader, wanted perfection. When I got on the boat I was one of six new
members in a ten-piece band, and one of only two of the six musicians
to complete the contract. We played for the production shows, Vegas
style. What kept my sanity was being able to sit in with a jazz trio.
When the contract was up I returned to Portland and started working on
the river boats, “The Empress of the North” was one. That
was a quartet situation with a lot more freedom. We had better material
and played dance sets, cocktail sets, and stretched out just a little
bit. A year after I started doing that I became the band
leader/contractor and booked all the musicians, set up the schedules,
etc. This was from 2003 to 2006.
Bands: When I got
off the boats I went back to PSU to finish my degree. The most exciting
thing that happened when I got back was Darrell Grant wanted me for his
band, “Truth and Reconciliation.” The only thing was I had
to learn the soprano saxophone. The material for his album was written
for the soprano. Needless to say, I now play soprano in Darrell's
group. The instrument takes less air than the tenor but everything has
to be focused so much more. As anything, when it becomes smaller the
variables become greater. The intonation can be much more squirrelly.
The sound can be more hard-edged. I've been playing the soprano for
about a year. I'm very excited about forming my own group,
“Willie Matheis and Company.” The quartet includes on piano
Jed Wilson, on bass Bill Athens and on drums Ken Ollis. The tunes I
have a tendency to write are a little bit darker and slower. The
musicians I've chosen are very sensitive players. Another band I'm in
is the Andrew Oliver Sextet. Pianist Oliver wanted a tenor in his
sextet. I met Andrew through Mary Sue Tobin. I'm also in Intervision, a
soul, R&B, funk band; Trio Subtonic, a project of Galen Clark and
Jesse Brooke; and the Rob Scheps Big Band.
Musical Influences:
All of the people I've studied with, like Chuck Israels. Back in
Bellingham, we really didn't listen to anything past 1958. Here
in Portland it's been Darrell Grant, Rob Scheps, John Gross. Of course,
I'm influenced by John Coltrane, Sonny Rollins, Joe Lovano et al.
Currently, I really like Chris Potter and Tony Malaby (plays with Paul
Motion).
Most Satisfying Experience:
Playing “Bumbershoot” (Seattle's annual arts festival) in
Darrell Grant's band. As a kid I went to “Bumbershoot”
every year with my family who had a wooden toy business, and I always
thought, Wouldn't it be cool to play this festival? I was thrilled to
be able to do just that. Another one is having my first real quartet
playing my compositions. It's very satisfying to have my ideas brought
to life by such wonderful musicians.
Favorite Recordings:
Duke Ellington's “Far East Suite”; John Coltrane's
“Crescent”; Gordon Lee's “Rough Jazz”;
Tim Wilcox Quartet “Sound Architecture”; Paul Motion
“Garden of Eden”;
“Charlie Parker with Strings”; “Porgy and Bess”
by Miles Davis and Gil Evans; “Quartets: Live at the Village
Vanguard,” Joe Lovano; “Speak No Evil,” Wayne
Shorter; “Whisper Not,” Keith Jarrett; “Beautiful
You,” John Gross and Billy Mintz; “The Complete Alladin
Sessions,” Lester Young; “In Chicago,” Cannonball
Adderley Quintet.
Discography: I'm on Andrew Oliver Sextet’s “Otis Stomp.”
Gigs: Andrew Oliver
Sextet at the Someday Lounge, Sunday, June 1, 8 p.m.; Andrew Oliver
Sextet at “The Cave” at the Green Onion, Friday, June 13, 8
p.m.; w/Intervision at Jimmy Maks, Saturday June 21, 8 p.m.; w/ Darrell
Grant's Truth and Reconciliation at “The Cave” at the Green
Onion, Saturday, July 19, 8 p.m.
Future Plans: I
have almost enough material to fill my first CD, so putting out my
first recording is a priority. I'd also like to teach more. I like to
figure out the student's musical personality and their deficiencies. To
figure out what the student needs to spend time on in order to develop
as a musician.
From Mary Burlingame KMHD-FM, “I love the tone of his
playing and his musical ideas, he is a talent deserving wider
recognition.”
From Darrell Grant, “Willie is developing a distinctive voice as
a player, he mixes virtuosity with a lot of soulfulness, which is why I
wanted him playing my music. His sound is informed by a longer
tradition of saxophone players.”
-- by Rita Rega
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