Matt Bauder (born 1976) is an American

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a major ...

saxophonist The saxophone (often referred to colloquially as the sax) is a type of single-reed woodwind instrument with a conical body, usually made of brass. As with all single-reed instruments, sound is produced when a reed on a mouthpiece vibrates to pr ...

clarinetist This article lists notable musicians who have played the clarinet. Classical clarinetists * Laver Bariu * Ernest Ačkun * Luís Afonso * Cristiano Alves * Michel Arrignon * Dimitri Ashkenazy * Kinan Azmeh * Alexander Bader * Carl Baermann * ...

and

composer A composer is a person who writes music. The term is especially used to indicate composers of Western classical music, or those who are composers by occupation. Many composers are, or were, also skilled performers of music. Etymology and Defi ...

. He is the bandleader of the jazz trio Hearing Things, the jazz quintet Day in Pictures, and the modern doo-wop group White Blue Yellow & Clouds. He is a member of the long-form improvisation trio Memorize the Sky, jazz collective

Ghost Train Orchestra Ghost Train Orchestra is a Brooklyn-based jazz and chamber ensemble led by Boston-based musician Brian Carpenter. The band formed in 2006 when an historic theater in Boston commissioned Carpenter as musical director for its 90th year celebration ...

, and was formerly a member of the touring lineups for

Arcade Fire Arcade Fire is a Canadian indie rock band, consisting of husband and wife Win Butler and Régine Chassagne, alongside Richard Reed Parry, Tim Kingsbury and Jeremy Gara. The band's current touring line-up also includes former core member S ...

and

Iron & Wine Samuel "Sam" Ervin Beam (born July 26, 1974), better known by his stage name Iron & Wine, is an American singer-songwriter. He has released six studio albums, several EPs and singles, as well as a few download-only releases, which include a ...

Early life and education

Bauder was born and raised in

Ann Arbor, Michigan Ann Arbor is a city in the U.S. state of Michigan and the county seat of Washtenaw County, Michigan, Washtenaw County. The 2020 United States census, 2020 census recorded its population to be 123,851. It is the principal city of the Ann Arbor ...

. He attended the

University of North Texas The University of North Texas (UNT) is a public research university in Denton, Texas. It was founded as a nonsectarian, coeducational, private teachers college in 1890 and was formally adopted by the state 11 years later."Denton Normal School," ...

in Denton, and earned a bachelor of fine arts in jazz and contemporary improvisation at the

University of Michigan in Ann Arbor , mottoeng = "Arts, Knowledge, Truth" , former_names = Catholepistemiad, or University of Michigania (1817–1821) , budget = $10.3 billion (2021) , endowment = $17 billion (2021)As o ...

."AMN Interview: Matt Bauder," Avant Music News, February 19, 2014.
/ref> He lived in

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

from 1999 to 2001, where he was a part of the city's modern jazz and improvised music scene,Peter Margasak
"Matt Bauder's ever-evolving sound,"
''

Chicago Reader The ''Chicago Reader'', or ''Reader'' (stylized as ЯEADER), is an American alternative weekly newspaper in Chicago, Illinois, noted for its literary style of journalism and coverage of the arts, particularly film and theater. It was founded by a ...

'', March 21, 2014. and then attended graduate school at

Wesleyan University Wesleyan University ( ) is a Private university, private liberal arts college, liberal arts university in Middletown, Connecticut. Founded in 1831 as a Men's colleges in the United States, men's college under the auspices of the Methodist Epis ...

Middletown, Connecticut Middletown is a city located in Middlesex County, Connecticut, United States, Located along the Connecticut River, in the central part of the state, it is south of Hartford, Connecticut, Hartford. In 1650, it was incorporated by English settler ...

.Peter Margasak
"Another side of Matt Bauder,"
''Chicago Reader'', January 31, 2008. There he studied under

Anthony Braxton Anthony Braxton (born June 4, 1945) is an American experimental composer, educator, music theorist, improviser and multi-instrumentalist who is best known for playing saxophones, particularly the alto. Braxton grew up on the South Side of Chica ...

and received a master's degree in composition. He lived in

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...

for a year, and moved to

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

in 2005."In Studio: Matt Bauder,"
''

Soundcheck A sound check is the preparation that takes place before a concert, speech, or similar performance to adjust the sound on the venue's sound reinforcement or public address system. The performer and the audio engineers run through a small port ...

'',

WNYC WNYC is the trademark and a set of call letters shared by WNYC (AM) and WNYC-FM, a pair of nonprofit, noncommercial, public radio stations located in New York City. WNYC is owned by New York Public Radio (NYPR), a nonprofit organization that di ...

, January 20, 2011.

Career

In 2003, Bauder released his debut album, ''Weary Already of the Way'', on . He followed that up in 2007 with the first album from his long-form improvisational jazz trio Memorize the Sky, featuring Bauder on saxophone, clarinet, bass clarinet and percussion, Zach Wallace on bass, vibraphone and percussion, and Aaron Siegel on drums and percussion. Bauder released two more albums with Memorize the Sky, in 2008 and 2010.Troy Collins
"Matt Bauder: Day In Pictures,"
''All About Jazz'', January 5, 2011. Bauder is the bandleader and plays saxophone and guitar in the jazz trio Hearing Things, with JP Schlegelmilch on organ and Vinnie Sperrazza on drums. In 2001, Bauder formed the doo-wop jazz group White Blue Yellow & Clouds. He plays saxophone and guitar in the group, and also sings lead vocals on some of the songs. They released ''Introducing White Blue Yellow & Clouds'' in 2007.Peter Margasak
"Short Takes on New Releases,"
''Chicago Reader'', January 31, 2008. The album features trumpeter Peter Evans, bassist Jason Ajemian, Fred Thomas (of

Saturday Looks Good to Me Saturday Looks Good to Me is an American experimental indie pop band that formed in 1999. The group is led by singer-songwriter, producer, and multi-instrumentalist Fred Thomas (former member of His Name Is Alive). Albums by the group are know ...

) and sound artist Dan St. Clair. On the album, the band mashes up '50s doo-wop, '60s soul and California pop music with avant-garde flourishes, and includes covers of "

God Only Knows "God Only Knows" is a song by American rock band the Beach Boys from their 1966 album ''Pet Sounds''. Written by Brian Wilson and Tony Asher, it is a Baroque-style love song distinguished for its harmonic innovation and its subversion of typica ...

" by

The Beach Boys The Beach Boys are an American Rock music, rock band that formed in Hawthorne, California, in 1961. The group's original lineup consisted of brothers Brian Wilson, Brian, Dennis Wilson, Dennis, and Carl Wilson, their cousin Mike Love, and frie ...

, "Lovers Never Say Goodbye" by

The Flamingos The Flamingos are an American doo-wop group formed in Chicago in 1953. The band became popular in mid-to-late 1950s and are known for their 1959 cover version of "I Only Have Eyes for You". They have since been hailed as one of the finest and m ...

and "

Hushabye "Hushabye" is a song that was written by Doc Pomus and Mort Shuman in 1959 for the Brooklyn doo-wop quintet the Mystics. The group's recording of the song was a Top 20 hit. Background In the spring of 1959, the Mystics recorded the modern Sout ...

" by

The Mystics The Mystics are an American rock and roll group that began in Brooklyn, New York, United States, in the late 1950s. The group was known as The Overons, a quintet that, when signed to Laurie Records, consisted of Phil Cracolici (born 1937, lead) ...

. Bauder has released two albums with his Brooklyn-based jazz quintet Day in Pictures on

Clean Feed Records Clean Feed Records is a jazz record label founded in Lisbon, Portugal, in 2001. The label's roster includes Ray Anderson, Tim Berne, Carlos Bica, Anthony Braxton, Mark Dresser, Ellery Eskelin, Peter Evans, Scott Fields, Fight the Big Bull, Cha ...

, the 2010 self-titled debut and 2014's ''Nightshades'', with trumpeter

Nate Wooley Nate or NATE may refer to: People and fictional characters *Nate (given name) *A nickname for Nathanael *A nickname for Nathaniel Organizations *National Association for the Teaching of English, the UK subject teacher association for all aspects ...

, pianist

Kris Davis Kris Davis (born 1980) is a Canadian jazz pianist and composer. Early life Davis was born in Vancouver in 1980 and grew up in Calgary, Alberta. She studied classical piano from the age of six and discovered jazz while a high school student. She ...

, bassist Jason Ajemian and drummer Tomas Fujiwara. Bauder played tenor saxophone and composed the songs on both albums. In 2014, he joined the

's touring lineup, remaining with the band until 2016. He played saxophone and clarinet on two tracks on Arcade Fire member

Will Butler William Pierce Butler (born October 6, 1982) is an American multi-instrumentalist and composer who is best known as a former member of the indie rock band Arcade Fire. He plays synthesizer, bass, guitar and percussion. He is known for his spon ...

's 2015 debut album ''

Policy Policy is a deliberate system of guidelines to guide decisions and achieve rational outcomes. A policy is a statement of intent and is implemented as a procedure or protocol. Policies are generally adopted by a governance body within an organ ...

''. He has also toured with

, played in the

Broadway Broadway may refer to: Theatre * Broadway Theatre (disambiguation) * Broadway theatre, theatrical productions in professional theatres near Broadway, Manhattan, New York City, U.S. ** Broadway (Manhattan), the street **Broadway Theatre (53rd Stree ...

production of ''

Fela! ''Fela!'' is a jukebox musical with a book by Bill T. Jones and Jim Lewis, based on music and lyrics by the late Nigerian singer Fela Kuti, with additional music by Aaron Johnson and Jordan McLean and additional lyrics by Jim Lewis. It is based ...

'' and collaborated on numerous projects with performance artist

Aki Sasamoto is a New York-based artist working in performance and installation. Sasamoto has collaborated with visual artists, musicians, choreographers, dancers, mathematicians and scholars is also co-founder of the non-profit interdisciplinary arts organiz ...

, including the 2012 installation ''Centripetal Run'', for which Bauder played saxophone, drums and guitar, sometimes simultaneously. Bauder regularly performs with Harris Eisenstadt's quintet Canada Day,Nate Chinen
"A Melting Pot of All Kinds of Rhythms, Harmonies and Vamps,"
''New York Times'', November 30, 2010. and has also appeared on recordings by the Exploding Star Orchestra,

Taylor Ho Bynum Taylor Ho Bynum (born 1975) is a musician, composer, educator and writer. His main instrument is the cornet, but he also plays numerous similar instruments, including flugelhorn and trumpet. Early life Bynum was born in BaltimoreWilmoth, Charli" ...

, Anthony Braxton, Rob Mazurek and Harris Eisenstadt.

Discography

Albums

Extended plays

Singles

Appears on

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bauder, Matt 1976 births Living people American jazz saxophonists American jazz clarinetists Musicians from Ann Arbor, Michigan Wesleyan University alumni University of Michigan School of Music, Theatre & Dance alumni University of North Texas alumni 21st-century clarinetists Ghost Train Orchestra members Clean Feed Records artists Locust Music artists