http://mattberkeley.com/news.html Matt Berkeley: News Jannis' PHPRss class - http://www.jannis.to/ Fri, 30 Jul 2010 01:16:51 -0700 http://mattberkeley.com/news.html#31
Well, it’s been a crazy few weeks. I’ve been on the road with the Jazz Mafia sharing the Brass, Bows and Beats symphony with new audiences coast to coast. In June, our 40-piece band played at the Hollywood Bowl for the Playboy Jazz Fest. This was a special experience for me particularly because this is a stage The Beatles performed on. Wow. The stage is actually on a circular, rotating platform...it goes kinda fast, too. You gotta balance yourself. They actually will spin you off and literally rotates in the next band when your time is up, even if you’re in the middle of a song. Bang, bang, bang”¦very LA., and the next band is playing. We diligently timed our set, as to make sure we didn’t become part of the infamous “spinners club”.

After a couple weeks back in the Bay, we headed out to New York City. We were greeted by a very exuberant audience at Le Poisson Rouge in Greenwich Village. After the show, the band gathered on the street to load up our gear and created quite the party and impromptu jam-session on the streets of Manhattan. In would have been nice to hang out in NYC for a little longer, but we were headed to Montreal for their summer jazz fest.

Driving into Montreal last Saturday was amazing, I could tell right away that this was a special town, very reminiscent of Europe in it’s architecture, mixed in with some crazy modern buildings. After the muggy heat of NYC, the clear, crisp air was refreshing, like a perfect day back home in the Bay. I really didn’t have much idea what to expect from the Festival International de Jazz de Montreal”¦but as soon as our band pulled into the area of the festival, I realized this was a major international jazz festival. After getting a late start on our drive from New York, and taking a long time to get over the border, we had to rush to our first set. I was performing with Joe Bagale that night, and other smaller bands within the Jazz Mafia were slated to perform as well. Joe, The Shotgun Wedding Quintet and Crystal Monae Hall all did a wonderful job representing our slice of the San Francisco music scene that night”¦and the Montreal audience received us so warmly. For Joe’s second set that night, our crowd was really fired up, and I was so surprised that the plaza was packed with what I would estimate to be about 8,000 people”¦and this was just a side stage.

That got us all revved up for our main stage performance the following night with the orchestra”¦the festival organizers estimated the crowd to be 60,000 to 80,000 for the Canadian debut of “Brass, Bows and Beats”.

That Sunday night was a night none of us will ever forget, it was a great leap forward for the Jazz Mafia. We performed the symphony to a huge audience, on an insanely giant sound system, and stage equipped with jumbo-tron screens, ha!

The staff that night was amazing and professional, amazingly professional, in fact! Running the sound system and setting up a 40-piece band is no small task, and they didn’t even flinch. The folks at the Montreal jazz fest do things right. I heard from friends that the sound out front was mind-blowing”¦to hear that many horns and strings coming through that many watts was a first for even seasoned music fans.

We made so many great new friends in Montreal”¦it’s such an incredible city (haha”¦footnote, I probably couldn’t handle the winter there, though!). There were jam sessions every night, with our SF peeps sitting in with our new friends and their Montreal bands”¦among them Papa Groove, Coyote Bill, and the Kalmunity Collective. I’m seriously considering reserving an apartment NOW”¦so I can stay there next year for the whole 12 days or so of the festival, which brings in some of my favorite artists from all over the world. Herbie Hancock was there this year, as were The Roots, Bobby MacFerrin, Keith Jarret and many others. Of the lesser-known acts that I saw, I really enjoyed Slavic Soul Party and their 21st century brand of brass-band meets Balkan meets hip-hop combination.

Montreal is famous for it’s smoked meat, so I recommend Schwartz’s on Saint Laurent for all you foodies out there. Apartments Trylon is a great, cheap place to stay, and the rooms have kitchens, so you can eat cheap, too. There’s a huge open-air food market on the outskirts of the old city center.

After Montreal we headed to Toronto to play their Harbourfront Festival. It was a beautiful view from the stage”¦looking right onto Lake Ontario. Good times, but a little more of a county fair vibe then the rabid music fan vibe of the Montreal Jazz fest. I have to say, though, that the beds at the Toronto Intercontinental Hotel were crazy comfortable!

From Toronto, we headed back over the border and dropped off most of our fellow musicians at the Buffalo airport. At that point it was just the six of us in Joe Bagale’s band going to Rochester for 4th of July weekend. We played a great show for Brandon and Joe’s hometown crowd on the 3rd, then relaxed and rested on the 4th”¦lots of swimming in Lake Ontario, lots of Frisbee, and an amazing barbecue courtesy of Bagale’s parents, who fed us sooooo well the whole time we stayed with them.

So that’s the rundown”¦we’re back in the Bay now. It’s the last month of Jazz Mafia Tuesdays”¦so we’re going big. It’s been a ten year run (I’ve been happy to be a part of it for the last 2-3 years), but now we’ll be focusing on bigger shows around town, and more touring. Please join the Jazz Mafia email list at http://jazzmafia.com You’ll get a free 15-song sampler, and keep tabs on all the Jazz Mafia events.

I’ll be playing with Joe Bagale at the Great American Music Hall on July 23rd”¦we’re opening for New Orleans native Ivan Neville and the show is a benefit for the Gulf Coast oil spill relief effort. Then in August the Jazz Mafia Symphony Orchestra will continue our summer of jazz festivals at the famous Newport Jazz Festival. Stayed tuned for other upcoming dates!

Finally, this newsletter's SHOUT OUTS and FREE DOWNLOAD

Adam Theis - you write awesome music, thanks for taking us all along for the ride!

Joe Bagale - way to sing your ass off in front of thousands of people, and special thanks to the Bagale family for hosting us and feeding us in Rochester

Karyn Paige - It’s here! Congratulations. The debut single, produced by myself and Joe Bagale”¦available for FREE DOWNLOAD at KARYN PAIGE’S OFFICIAL WEBSITE

Puck - Thanks for the free place to stay in NYC, so good to see you and glad you got to meet the Jazz Mafia family

Jazz Mafia Symphony Orchestra - it’s a party on a wheels, a mega-extreme scene on wheels”¦great traveling and partying with you all”¦can’t wait for Newport

Montreal and new friends there — Your city FUCKING ROCKS. I can’t wait to go back, I hope to make it a regular destination. Staying up til sunrise was never so much fun.

Ben Yonas and Phil of Yonas Media — it’s a brave and courageous act to manage, tour manage, roadie, schlep-around and accommodate the needs of 20 plus raucous musicians.



Thanks for reading..I hope to see you at a show soon!

Peace, MB]]> http://mattberkeley.com/news.html#31 Mon, 12 Jul 2010 00:00:00 -0700 The Online home of Matt Berkeley, Anonymous Pop Star and Spaceman - Matt Berkeley - News http://mattberkeley.com/news.html#30
Well, the orchestra be playing with LB and also Chali 2Na at the Harmony Festival June 11th. Opening for one of my favorite bands, Steel Pulse!!! That same weekend we head to L.A. for the Playboy Jazz Festival. I think playing at the Hollywood Bowl will be a first for many of us. In the meantime, I'm writing lots of new songs, making beats and co-producing Karyn Paige's debut album with Joe Bagale. We'll be done with that very soon, I promise. It's an exciting record to be a part of. You can catch up with us at Coda on May 29th, Supertaster will be doing our Live Remix night, playing many of your favorite classic hip-hop beats, remixed by a live band and featuring some of our favorite collaborators on the mic. Peace, MB!]]> http://mattberkeley.com/news.html#30 Fri, 14 May 2010 00:00:00 -0700 The Online home of Matt Berkeley, Anonymous Pop Star and Spaceman - Matt Berkeley - News http://mattberkeley.com/news.html#29 http://www.jazzmafia.com/promote/]]> http://mattberkeley.com/news.html#29 Fri, 23 Apr 2010 00:00:00 -0700 The Online home of Matt Berkeley, Anonymous Pop Star and Spaceman - Matt Berkeley - News http://mattberkeley.com/news.html#28
I'm honored to perform with a bunch of great musicians, tomorrow night, Monday April 12th at Yoshi's in SF. We will be paying tribute to one of the all-time great musicians: Mr. Herbie Hancock. This is a FREE show at Yoshi's in SF (1330 Fillmore Street). Also on keyboards will be Maya Kronfeld and Mike Aaberg, two fantastic players. We will be backed by and all star Jazz Mafia cast including Joe Bagale , Tommy Folen, Adam Theis, Joe Cohen and Matt Lucas. To add to the specialness of this night, it's actually on Herbie's birthday! This is a one-time event, so don't miss out!]]> http://mattberkeley.com/news.html#28 Sun, 11 Apr 2010 00:00:00 -0700 The Online home of Matt Berkeley, Anonymous Pop Star and Spaceman - Matt Berkeley - News http://mattberkeley.com/news.html#25 http://theindependentsf.com)
Yours truly will be on keyboards with both bands. Visi The Independents website now to get tickets now as this show is expected to sell out!]]> http://mattberkeley.com/news.html#25 Sun, 07 Mar 2010 00:00:00 -0800 The Online home of Matt Berkeley, Anonymous Pop Star and Spaceman - Matt Berkeley - News http://mattberkeley.com/news.html#24
Lot's of exciting stuff has been coming up, so much so that I haven't even had a chance to blog about it lately. First off, OONA will be playing our first headlining gig this Friday, February 19th at the Red Devil Lounge in San Francisco, and next week we will be playing ourselves in an independent film. We get to be movie stars! Meanwhile, the Jazz Mafia has lined up some really great stuff for this Spring and Summer. We'll be doing a 'Brass, Bows and Beats' fundraiser at Yoshi's in April and we'd love your support. Like any large ensemble, fundraising is a key component to taking the show on the road, and BBB is slated to play some fantastic international jazz festivals this summer: Newport Jazz Festival (Rhode Island), Montreal Jazz Festival, Playboy Jazz Festival, Monterey Jazz Festival...as well as some dates at performance art centers around the US. Tune in to http://jazzmafia.com if you want to be involved with this amazing and groundbreaking symphony. Meanwhile, Supertaster is busy at work on our debut record, and I have also been privileged to collaborate with my Supertaster bandmates Joe Bagale and Karyn Paige for their upcoming solo efforts.

Stay tuned in 2010...it's gonna be a blast!]]> http://mattberkeley.com/news.html#24 Wed, 17 Feb 2010 00:00:00 -0800 The Online home of Matt Berkeley, Anonymous Pop Star and Spaceman - Matt Berkeley - News http://mattberkeley.com/news.html#23


And there's video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hV1vyMps9i0



It was in San Francisco...last Saturday night...around 12:45am (sorry I guess that is technically Sunday morning) at Coda. (http://codalive.com). I looked to the back of the room, and there he was...listening to our little band.

Somehow, we were in the right place at the right time, and somehow played the right music to coax the legend onto stage with us to sing a couple of songs. It was our version of Donny Hathaway's version of the John Lennon song 'Jealous Guy' that lifted Stevie from his seat and onto the stage. Perhaps because Stevie is such a humanitarian and because Donny's version of the Lennon tune represents such an amazing amalgamation of cultures and music and diversity. After playing two songs with us, 'All Day Sucker' and 'I Can't Help It' (the song Stevie wrote from Michael Jackson's 'Off the Wall' album) we ended the show, and Stevie huddled up the band imparted on us some words of wisdom, encouraging us to continue on our path of music, because music the power to unite all colors, all creeds --- all PEOPLE.

My bandmates Joe Bagale and Adam Theis offer detailed play-by-play accounts of this amazing evening, and I encourage you to visit their Facebook pages if you want a full account of how that magical night came to be. It was an amazing and challenging day, as I already had six-and-a-half hours of driving, three sets of music and two-and-a-half gigs behind me...to be joined by onstage by Stevie Wonder was a sign from the universe I'm on the right road

in this musical journey.

If you have heard Supertaster perform before, than you would know that Stevie Wonder would be the single most wonderful guest we could ever have with us onstage in our wildest dreams....and it happened, in real life.

In other exciting news, my aforementioned bandmates Adam Theis and Joe Bagale have BOTH BEEN NOMINATED FOR SF WEEKLY MUSIC AWARDS!!!! Yeah!!!!

PLEASE TAKE A MOMENT TO SUPPORT THESE GUYS BY VOTING!!!
here's the link...it will take two minutes. Adam is in the Jazz/Blues category, Joe in the Soul/R&B/Funk category. They are two amazing musicians I'm so proud to work with.

VOTE HERE: http://polls.sfweekly.com/polls/san/musicawards09/]]> http://mattberkeley.com/news.html#23 Mon, 28 Sep 2009 00:00:00 -0700 The Online home of Matt Berkeley, Anonymous Pop Star and Spaceman - Matt Berkeley - News http://mattberkeley.com/news.html#22 ]]> http://mattberkeley.com/news.html#22 Mon, 17 Aug 2009 00:00:00 -0700 The Online home of Matt Berkeley, Anonymous Pop Star and Spaceman - Matt Berkeley - News http://mattberkeley.com/news.html#21 http://jazzmafia.com for more information. Peace, MB]]> http://mattberkeley.com/news.html#21 Tue, 11 Aug 2009 00:00:00 -0700 The Online home of Matt Berkeley, Anonymous Pop Star and Spaceman - Matt Berkeley - News http://mattberkeley.com/news.html#20 Thanks for visiting. It was great to see so many of you come out and see Joe Bagale at the Great American Music Hall. That band has some fun shows coming up in July at the Fillmore Street Jazz Fest and Yoshi's. Supertaster will also be at the Fillmore Street Jazz Fest, and we are also planning a Bay Area hip-hop tribute for the first Wednesday at Royale. Keep up with us on myspace, http://jazzmafia.com, and now Twitter, too.]]> http://mattberkeley.com/news.html#20 Mon, 15 Jun 2009 00:00:00 -0700 The Online home of Matt Berkeley, Anonymous Pop Star and Spaceman - Matt Berkeley - News