Matty Stecks – Old Friends Beckoned – New Sounds Reckoned

Matthew Steckler, aka Matty Stecks, performs and composes in several musical settings internationally. From 2017-20, he served on the faculty in Jazz & Contemporary Popular Music at the renowned Brandon University School of Music in Canada; and has taught at NYU, RPI, and other higher ed and K-12 schools. Primarily a saxophonist/woodwind specialist, he also performs on vocals, keyboards, percussion and electronic media, bringing a dynamic, holistic approach to the live musical experience.  

As a composer and bandleader, Matthew has been recognized for his seminal work with the projects Dead Cat Bounce and Persiflage, chronicled in Downbeat & Jazz Times, and featured at festivals and major concert series in the United States. Other projects he has led include SWIPE Cartel and Lavender Jones & The Dead Giveaways. Most recently, his Matty Stecks & Musical Tramps is a welcome addition to the greater Winnipeg jazz community. 

In other collaborative settings, Matthew has most recently been in recording projects led by the Winnipeg Jazz Orchestra, Eric Hangen y La Ruta, Alex Torres Latin Orchestra, News From Planet Kniffen, MC Frontalot and Satyrdagg.  He recently has shared the stage with Michael Cain & Sola at the Brandon Jazz Festival, the Winnipeg Jazz Orchestra, and the Brandon Chamber Players.

Over the course of his career, Matthew has also performed alongside Lonnie Plaxico, Gary Smulyan, Lee Konitz, Anthony Braxton, Roswell Rudd, George Russell, Gunther Schuller, Curtis Fowlkes, Pheeroan Aklaff, Jon Hendricks, Jay Hoggard, George Lewis, Marty Ehrlich, Tyshawn Sorey, Dan Weiss, Chris Lightcap, Greg Burk, Jim McNeely, Lenny Pickett, Randy Brecker, Joe Lovano, Bob Moses, Greg Hopkins, Gerald Cleaver, Bobby Sanabria, Gary Morgan, Ed Palermo, Club D’Elf, Max Creek and the Jazz Composers Alliance.

Matthew has written for concert music, theatre, film and game audio settings, and continues his own foundational work in electroacoustics and multimedia that began with his 2013 research-based, extended work Eco Beat Heresy. His area of research interest is in the burgeoning field of embodied music cognition, to which he contributed the 2013 dissertation The Play Space in Embodied Composition: A Study of Social Process in the Creation of Music for Improvisers.

Matthew holds a Ph.D. and M.A. in Composition from New York University, an M.M. in Jazz Performance from New England Conservatory of Music, and a B.A. in Music from Wesleyan University. He studied performance with Jerry Bergonzi, Thomas Chapin, Danilo Perez, Cecil McBee, Nick Brignola, Jay Hoggard and Paul Bley, and composition/theory with Jim McNeely, Anton Vishio, Marc Consoli, Jerica Oblak, Justin Dello Joio, Dinu Ghezzo, Ron Sadoff, Lee Hyla, Anthony Braxton and George Russell.