The Matthew Yeakley Group

"An impressive debut album from a talented up and coming artist. Fans of modern guitar are sure to love the compositions and fiery playing by everyone on these discs."
—All About Jazz

CLEAN NUMBERS

Matthew Yeakley - Guitar
Matt Politano - Piano/Rhodes
Cooper Appelt - Electric and Upright Bass
Aaron MacLendon - Drums
Zane Musa - Tenor Saxophone

DIRTY WORDS

Matthew Yeakley - Guitar
Matt Politano - Piano/Rhodes
Cooper Appelt - Electric and Upright Bass
Aaron MacLendon - Drums
Mike Cottone - Trumpet
Gina Saputo - Vocals (Deanna)
Jesse Palter - Vocals (Sadhana)

"... jazz that grooves ("A Place to Call Home"), bops ("I Wish I Could've Known You Better") and takes chances ("Periculum N"). Yeakley's polished guitar style is what we've come to expect from the town that gave us Larry and Lee. It's a lot of music to drop on an unsuspecting public at once, but you can't have too much of a good thing."
—Something Else Reviews

"Art is an odd thing, objective good's and bad's don't really exist. You can say a brush stroke or an arpeggio were well executed, but that doesn't determine wether or not the finished piece will connect with the viewer or listener. It's a completely subjective experience and we all know this, so let's let this be where we start when we ask the questions, 'Why does certain music or art connect with a person? Why does Miles Davis' trumpet give me chills every time we hear it? Why do we react viscerally to the work of Jean-Michel Basquiat?'

"Honesty.

"When you hear great artists they are giving you themselves openly and honestly without filter, at least that's how I choose to view it. So this has been my personal goal in composing for this group, is to speak honestly to the listener.

"I have had the great pleasure of working with some of my favorite musicians on this project, all of whom have a voice on their instrument that I believe reflects that same search for honesty in music. The core of this group is made up of Matt Politano on Piano, Cooper Appelt on Bass and Aaron McLendon on Drums. Politano's encyclopedic knowledge of the jazz tradition and lyrical playing are on full display in this group, and the great depth of his knowledge is evident from note one. It's impossible to talk about Appelt and McLendon separately when discussing their playing in this group, their playing is so intertwined one would assume at least half of their spontaneous ideas must be worked out ahead of time. They both play with so much fire and an ear to the future, yet when restraint and tradition are called for there's no one better. This trio of musicians are of the highest order to say the least. Mike Cottone lends his soaring Trumpet sound to the group; lyrical, powerful, clear, urgent, these are the superlatives I would use for Mike's playing. His playing is a clear illustration of honesty in music. Zane Musa plays the Tenor Saxophone with this group and the best way to describe his playing is to tell a story. Once after a gig with this group at the Blue Whale in downtown Los Angeles, one of the great supporters of the Los Angeles jazz scene Mr. Don Edmonson came up to me and said, "Zane Musa is a fire breathing dragon!" Now Don went to over 400 jazz shows in 2013, so his opinion is well founded. Zane plays with an unimaginable fire and knowing him as well as I do, I know how honest this fire is.

"Honesty is the goal of this group, from composition to performance we are here to give you an honest look at who we are, and what our art is."

— Matthew Yeakley

Recorded at Clearlake Recording Studios
Engineer - Ara Sarkisian
Mixing and Mastering - Daniel Rosenboom
Associate Producer - Steve Theriault
Design and Original Art by Eron Rauch

ORENDA RECORDS 0011