Sasha Matson: Fillmore Street-Little Woodstar Sasha Matson

• Sasha Matson: Fillmore Street:
• 1 Matson: Fillmore Street 06:21
• Sonora Pass:
• 2 Matson: Sonora Pass 07:00
• Mar Vista:
• 3 Matson: Mar Vista 05:15
• Little Woodstar I:
• 4 Matson: Little Woodstar I 10:20
• Little Woodstar II:
• 5 Matson: Little Woodstar II 12:19
• Total Runtime 41:15

Info for Sasha Matson: Fillmore Street-Little Woodstar

A walloping one-two punch of works for jazz and studio orchestras! Take a foundation of classical composition, add a whole lot of jazz influence, and sprinkle in some Bob Dylan and Grateful Dead and you get FILLMORE STREET/LITTLE WOODSTAR, a walloping one-two punch of works for jazz and studio orchestra by composer Sasha Matson. The titular Little Woodstar incorporates a vocal quintet in a lush, progressive journey that keeps ears perked and ready for the next thing. The texts refer to names of species included in the IUCN Red List of Threatened Animals.

The record is rounded out with Fillmore Street, where Matson walks us through three of his most meaningful California locales with an upbeat energy that conjures feet slapping pavement and rubber hitting the road. Adding to the album’s zest are the rooms where it was recorded: the legendary Sear Sound studio in Manhattan and East/West Studios in Hollywood with seasoned producers Joe Harley and John Atkinson.

Fillmore Street is a recently composed instrumental composition scored for a Jazz Orchestra of 16 players. In three movements, the programmatic titles refer to three locations in California that have meant much to me over the years. In the early 1980s we lived at 2411 Fillmore Street in San Francisco, and the first movement, “Fillmore Street,” refers to that time.

At 4:53 I quote from several musical works that were in my ears then — including the sound of a disco hi-hat. “Sonora Pass” refers to the highway that traverses the Sierra Nevada mountains north of Yosemite, one of the most beautiful and varied landscapes in the world. The third movement, titled “Mar Vista,” recalls the neighborhood we lived in, south of Santa Monica and east of Venice, in the great City and County of Los Angeles.

Recording again in New York, with the greatest jazz musicians — a high point for any composer. Sear Sound — at this time — was the longest-running studio in Manhattan. One plus was being able to use studio founder Walter Sear’s original 1968 Moog Model IIIC modular synthesizer, one of the first made. Walter Sear and Robert Moog were friends and business associates. – Sasha Matson

Suzy Farber, flute, piccolo
Bruce Williams, alto flute, soprano saxophone
Andy Farber, alto saxophone, tenor saxophone
Kurt Bacher, bass clarinet, baritone saxophone, English horn
Bob Millikan, trumpet
Shawn Edmonds, trumpet, flugelhorn
Summer Camargo, trumpet, flugelhorn
James Burton III, trombone
Willie Applewhite, trombone
Jack Schatz, bass trombone
Marcus Rojas, tuba
Alvester Garnett, drums
Mark Sherman, percussion
Meg Okura, violin
Adam Birnbaum, piano and Moog
Melissa Slocum, bass
Sasha Matson, conductor

Co-produced by Joe Harley (Blue Note Records) and John Atkinson (Stereophile)

Sasha Matson
spent his formative years in Berkeley, California, where his father taught philosophy at the University of California. He received a Bachelors Degree in Composition from the San Francisco Conservatory of Music, studying with composers Elinor Armer, John Adams, and Andrew Imbrie. Moving to Los Angeles, Sasha wrote musical scores for a dozen dramatic feature films and other media, and received the Ph.D. in Music Composition and Theory from UCLA. Recordings of his work, in collaboration with audiophile producers Joe Harley and John Atkinson, have been released on the AudioQuest, New Albion, Albany/Troy, and Stereophile record labels. “Cooperstown – Jazz Opera in Nine Innings” premiered at the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 2007. Sasha writes about audio and music, and is currently a Contributing Editor for Stereophile magazine. Sasha has taught at LaGrange College, Long Island University, and The State University of New York. Sasha currently divides his time between Cooperstown and New York City.

This album contains no booklet.