Boundless and visionary, Matt Von Roderick’s newest album ‘The Excellent Storm’ bridges the religious and the experimental, remodeling jazz into an immersive act of creativeness and therapeutic. In dialog with Atwood Journal, the award-winning trumpeter, vocalist, and composer displays on his artistic philosophy, the deeper function behind his music, and the way innovation, connection, and intention information his artwork.
‘The Excellent Storm’ – Matt Von Roderick
“The sky’s the restrict when it’s in your creativeness… after which it’s a matter of bringing it to life.”
For Matt Von Roderick, that sentiment isn’t simply an artist’s philosophy – it’s a lived observe. The award-winning trumpeter, vocalist, and composer has spent his profession increasing the language of jazz, merging basic lyricism with daring sonic innovation. His newest report, The Excellent Storm, stands as a end result of that journey: a sweeping assertion that bridges the religious and the experimental, the timeless and the brand new.
Hailed by The New York Occasions as “a post-millennial Chet Baker” and praised by JazzTimes as “a top-drawer trumpeter who additionally sings like an angel obscured by a storm cloud,” Von Roderick inhabits what he describes as “the rarified air of progressive jazz trumpeter and heart-centered crooner.” His performances – equal components meditation and exploration – have graced Carnegie Corridor, Lincoln Heart, and The Kennedy Heart for the Performing Arts, each providing a window into his deeply intentional world of sound.
Through the years, Von Roderick has collaborated with a outstanding roster of artists together with Brad Mehldau, Kenny Werner, Neil Diamond, Dionne Warwick, and The Saturday Evening Reside Band, and his trumpet has appeared on Saturday Evening Reside, The Ellen Present, and occasions with Marianne Williamson. He’s been acknowledged because the first-place winner of the Unbiased Music Awards Jazz Class (as judged by Lou Reed), a finalist within the Thelonious Monk Worldwide Jazz Competitors, and a Vilar International Fellow – an honor dubbed “the Rhodes Scholarship of the performing arts” by The New York Occasions. What units Von Roderick aside shouldn’t be solely his virtuosity however his devotion to function. His music integrates trumpet and vocal multiphonics – strategies that enable him to play and sing concurrently – alongside lush harmonies, ambient textures, and spoken phrase. The result’s a sound each ethereal and instant, inviting listeners right into a world that’s as emotive as it’s expansive.
“It’s the most effective emotions while you’re on an journey in a brand new place, and the music and the reference to audiences by way of music turns into your new dwelling in a method… I reside for that.”
As he takes The Excellent Storm throughout North America, Europe, and Australia for his Celestial Coronary heart World Tour, Von Roderick continues to blur boundaries between performer and healer, virtuoso and visionary – every observe a reminder that artwork’s best energy lies in its means to awaken one thing luminous inside us all.
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:: stream/buy The Excellent Storm right here ::
:: join with Matt Von Roderick right here ::
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A CONVERSATION WITH MATT VON RODERICK
Atwood Journal: Your mix of trumpet, vocals, and tech has created such an attention-grabbing, distinctive sound. Was there a tune on the report that served because the catalyst for this sonic world to be created?
Matt Von Roderick: Finally, the sonic world I’ve created is the results of pondering huge, an “something goes” perspective, and dreaming up a world of prospects that basically excites me. The sky’s the restrict when it’s in your creativeness…after which it’s a matter of bringing it to life. It’s one thing that’s developed over time, but when there’s one tune on THE PERFECT STORM album that has served as a catalyst, I might say it’s ‘Coexistence’. That tune has such an exploratory spirit to it, and it incorporates quite a lot of my influences directly.
As a composer, it seems like you’ve got many influences. May you discuss a bit about who’re a few of your best influences and who you have been listening to while making this report?
Matt Von Roderick: My father is a classical violinist and my mom was a classical pianist – I grew up listening to and enjoying their devices first, so classical music is a giant affect. Bach particularly – the satisfying structure of his music, mixed with a deep sense of looking out/longing and catharsis. Then, I received into Jazz…I believe most artistic music artists who worth actual freedom of expression will ultimately be drawn to Jazz. There, I discovered Charlie Parker, Miles Davis, Dizzy Gillespie, Chet Baker, Freddie Hubbard, Blue Mitchell, Sonny Rollins, John Coltrane, Keith Jarrett… and at last I began to include all of it with inspiration from a number of the bands and artists I resonate with, that extra individuals on this century have woven into the material of their lives – the likes of Radiohead, The Flaming Lips, Lou Reed, Bob Dylan, Bjork, Keane, Coldplay, Elliot Smith, Nick Drake…
Though it could sound lofty to some, I make music to remind individuals of the reality of their nature as religious beings. I search to encourage, to heal, to activate.
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You incessantly communicate concerning the religious aspect of music. How does that ingredient form your strategy to efficiency and creating?
Matt Von Roderick: It’s vital to me, as a result of I really feel that it provides my music a bigger function. Though it could sound lofty to some, I make music to remind individuals of the reality of their nature as religious beings. I search to encourage, to heal, to activate. I really feel I’ve a job to do – that’s what I’m right here for. That’s what my albums are supposed to do, and that’s definitely what my reside performances are about. Traditionally, the trumpet has been an instrument of alternative for this sort of message.
What are you most enthusiastic about for this upcoming tour?
Matt Von Roderick: It’s the most effective emotions while you’re on an journey in a brand new place, and the music and the reference to audiences by way of music turns into your new dwelling in a method… I reside for that. It’s like: “Hey, I’ve one thing actually cool to share with you…life could be stunning! Do you’re feeling it? Do You Understand??” I’m actually excited to be taking THE PERFECT STORM all over the world in 2026 – we have now exhibits deliberate throughout Europe, North America, and Asia.
Your collaborations span jazz and past, from Brad Mehldau to Neil Diamond. How do you adapt to such various musical environments whereas staying true to your voice?
Matt Von Roderick: Considered one of my mentors, Herbie Hancock, likes to say: “It’s one huge music.” Maestro Herbie actually operates from the point of view of openness – he’s free from the restrictions of style… I like that. The primary time I met Brad Mehldau he stated to me: “There’s room for every little thing.” That additionally made an affect. And once we performed collectively, the world felt huge. Once I performed with Neil Diamond, I actually received that it’s about connecting with and being beneficiant together with your viewers. I believe should you function from these philosophies, you may keep true to your voice in any surroundings.
I like exploring new prospects, and at a sure level I felt drawn to transcend the one observe melody line of the standard trumpet sound, and to strategy enjoying extra like a guitarist or pianist.
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The Excellent Storm blends custom with innovation. What was your imaginative and prescient for the album, and the way did you carry it to life together with your collaborators?
Matt Von Roderick: It has all the time made sense to me that a part of the custom of jazz is to innovate, so in that method I believe the music simply feels pure to me. My imaginative and prescient for THE PERFECT STORM was to include and combine my life experiences right into a cohesive assertion in a method that conjures up others…and bringing it to life with the musicians and producers I work with flowed simply. I are usually drawn to open-minded individuals who take pleasure in seeing life from the point of view of the larger image.
Your use of trumpet and vocal multiphonics is groundbreaking. What drew you to discover these strategies, and the way do they improve your storytelling?
Matt Von Roderick: I like exploring new prospects, and at a sure level I felt drawn to transcend the one observe melody line of the standard trumpet sound, and to strategy enjoying extra like a guitarist or pianist. Once I play multiphonics, I sing and play concurrently, producing two and typically three notes directly, which permits me to delineate concord and chords…in some ways this frees me up and helps carry me into a brand new world. It’s additionally a placing sound that has an emotional immediacy to it that may actually seize an viewers’s consideration, in order that has it’s personal energy as effectively. I’ve a relationship to the sound, and it usually signifies a heightened second in my storytelling, definitely one thing extra layered…
You’ve talked about music’s transformative energy. How do you see your work as a instrument for therapeutic or private progress in your viewers?
Matt Von Roderick: There are completely different ranges. There’s the purely sonic, vibrational facet. Which, on a scientific degree, in a method we’re all sound…then there’s the emotional facet that’s conveyed by way of the way in which, the nuance, during which the music is performed. And, there’s the lyrical content material which may have embedded into it every kind of messages, a few of them clever. When all three are lined up in a complementary method, that may produce a robust impact. I’ve seen the “tone” of an individual change dramatically, from the start versus the ending of a live performance!
My imaginative and prescient for ‘The Excellent Storm’ was to include and combine my life experiences right into a cohesive assertion in a method that conjures up others.
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Your recognition, like profitable the Unbiased Music Award, speaks to your artistry. What do these achievements imply within the context of your bigger profession?
Matt Von Roderick: It’s definitely good to obtain acknowledgment, whether or not it’s from the Unbiased Music Awards or the GRAMMY Awards. Achievements and awards like these aren’t a requirement for a profitable profession, however I see them as an indication that one thing goes proper, and a optimistic impact is being created on the planet. And, usually, it means the music is reaching extra individuals, in order that’s a very good factor…
May you share the way you put together for reside efficiency – any rituals or practices that floor you – and what issues most to you within the second of sharing your music with the viewers?
Matt Von Roderick: Earlier than I play a live performance, I all the time do my warm-up. This helps put together me and put me in an optimum state, the place I can obtain artistic data and permit it to channel by way of me and translate by way of my voice and trumpet. With the viewers connection, what issues most is the sensation.
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:: stream/buy The Excellent Storm right here ::
:: join with Matt Von Roderick right here ::
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an album by Matt Von Roderick
