Matt Keegan regularly performs throughout Australia and around the world. He appears on over 50 albums, is a featured saxophone soloist for many well-known groups both past and present and has performed at music festivals across the globe.
In 2011, Keegan won the prestigious MCA Freedman Fellowship for jazz and has subsequently produced a recording with new cross-cultural group The Three Seas in New Delhi, India. As a band leader he has released six albums of original music to critical acclaim.
Keegan’s saxophone playing currently features in a variety of professional ensembles including The Stu Hunter Experiment, the Steve Hunter Band, Phil Slater’s Sun Songbook, and the Jazzgroove Mothership Orchestra. He is a band member on the TV show The Voice, arranging for, and leading the horn section.
In professional capacity he has also played, recorded and or toured with groups including Chet Faker, Passenger, the Darren Percival band, Declan Kelly, James Muller Band, Emma Pask, The World According to James, the Mark Isaacs Resurgence Band, 20th Century Dog, The Beautiful Girls, Jackie Orszaczky, Mahalia Barnes, Thirsty Merc, The Japan Australia Jazz Orchestra (JPN) and Maroon 5 (USA).
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Philip Pogson (PP): Matt, you have quite a reputation as an explorer and innovator in jazz/improvised music. Did you grow up from an early age feeling jazz, for want of a better term, was your calling, or did the idea of a jazz career develop later in life?
Matt Keegan
Matt Keegan (MK): I wanted to be a musician from primary school age and was always interested in lots of different kinds of music. My passion for jazz music is mainly due to encouragement from my grandparents. Since that time I have always been interested in composing and arranging new music. I don’t really think of myself specifically as a jazz musician or having a ‘career’ in jazz. My musical passion and interest is in playing and creating original contemporary music of all kinds.
PP: You spent time doing post graduate study in Scandinavia. What do you see as the differences and similarities between the European and Australia improvised music scenes? Was there anything in particular you learned?
MK: I think there are similarities between Scandinavian and Australian contemporary jazz – a spaciousness and loneliness – perhaps to do with the feeling the landscapes evoke. At that time in my early 20’s, living in Sweden, I was learning all the time about music, life and myself! A great experience.
PP: You’ve already worked with Jenny Eriksson once before with your own ensemble, The Matt Keegan Band. What attracted you to working with the electric viola da gamba given it’s hardly a common instrument?
MK: As an improvising musician and composer I am really sensitive to the sounds around me and the effect they have on the way I write and play. An opportunity to work with this kind of exotic sound was really exciting. I was also really attracted to the fact that Jenny was keen to take herself out of her comfort zone and push into new territory. I thought this was a positive inspiring energy to harness.
PP: Jenny Eriksson commissioned you to write a new work for the electric gamba which will be premiered at the launch of the band Elysian Fields on November 25, 2015. It is difficult to describe the amazing part composed, part improvised work you’ve written but it seems almost like a cantata for jazz ensemble and voice. Can you explain something of the piece and what you were trying to do?
Jenny Eriksson and electric gamba
MK: I made an effort to exploit the inherent sonic possibilities of the electric gamba. I thought a lot about open strings, keys and range. I wanted Jenny to feel comfortable exploring improvisation and created spaces accordingly. I paid attention to rhythm and how to make a more classically-orientated musician sound and feel comfortable in this area with a band. Melodically, I had in mind the idea of the gamba as a vocalist (most of the time). Jenny told me once that traditionally many musicians saw the gamba as having the sound most like the human voice. There are lots of passages in harmony with the singer.
PP: Finally, what do you hope audiences will take away from the experience of hearing Elysian Fields?
MK: It’s hard to predict what someone else thinks but I am looking forward to delving into the sound of the group and exploring the sonic and musical areas we create together on our first gig. Hopefully we are able to succinctly transmit our feeling through the music to those who come to listen!
Elysian Fields
Jenny Eriksson – electric viola da gamba
Matt McMahon – keyboards
Matt Keegan – saxophones
Siebe Pogson – electric bass
Finn Ryan – drums
With guests: Steve Elphick – bass and Sarah Belkner – vocals
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When: 25 November, 2015, 8.30 to 11.00pm
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Where: Foundry 616, Harris St, Ultimo
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Tickets: https://www.stickytickets.com.au/31575
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Tickets: $20/15