BIO:
Matt Blair is a pianist, composer, improviser, and educator currently based in Minneapolis, Minnesota. He received a Bachelor of Music degree with a self-designed major in contemporary improvisation at Lawrence University in Appleton, Wisconsin. While at Lawrence, Matt had the opportunity to study with Tim Albright, Bill Carrothers, Patty Darling, José Encarnación, Michael Mizrahi, Anthony Padilla, and Matt Turner. Since relocating to Minneapolis, his latest projects include performing with YINS, a duo with drummer Devin Drobka; Collector, an improvising piano trio with bassist Jakob Heinemann and Devin Drobka; Work Friends, a jazz quintet dedicated to playing all original music; and Slipstream, a chamber quartet that focuses on the commissioning and performing of new music. In addition to these projects, Matt has had the honor of performing with John Christensen, Barry Paul Clark, José Encarnación, Jonathan Greenstein, Russ Johnson, Christopher Porterfield, Hal Rammel, Dane Richeson, Chris Weller, and Minneapolis based dance trio Kelvin Wailey. As a part of Slipstream, Matt has premiered new compositions by Patrick Marschke, John Mayrose, JP Merz, Chris Misch-Bloxdorf, and David Werfelmann. Matt has also been regularly performing solo, either on solo piano or solo prepared Fender Rhodes and electronics. In June of 2017, Matt recorded his first solo record with drummer Dave King (The Bad Plus, Happy Apple) as producer. The recording, Shadow Sets, features eight original compositions for solo piano and is expected to be released in the Spring of 2018.
WATCH:
Slipstream performing "le/af," by Slipstream and Patrick Marschke, for NPR's 2016 Tiny Desk Contest. Slipstream is: Joe Connor - saxophone Ilan Blanck - guitar Dan Reifsteck - percussion Matt Blair - piano Patrick Marschke - composer Video shot and edited by Miles Allen. Audio edited by Ilan Blanck.