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Matt Kane

Originally from Hannibal, Missouri, which is best known as the boyhood home of Mark Twain and the setting for the adventures of Tom Sawyer and Huck Finn, drummer Matt Kane cut his musical teeth in Kansas City. One of four cradles of jazz along with New Orleans, Chicago and New York, Kansas City was known for its hard-swinging style pioneered by Count Basie, Jay McShann, Mary Lou Williams, Charlie Parker and hundreds of other jazz greats.

Kane learned his craft from Daahoud Williams, the McFadden Brothers, Ida McBeth and other veterans of the Kansas City scene. He quickly became known as the “Main Cat” on the drums. In 1995, Kane joined Ahmad Alaadeen’s Deans of Swing. An educator, composer and saxophonist, Alaadeen lead a stellar group of young musicians. While working with Alaadeen, Kane earned what Claude Fiddler Williams referred to as the “Kansas City stamp,” a distinctive style of playing that is instantly recognized by musicians internationally.

In 1997, Kane joined a long line of Kansas City musicians, stretching from Count Basie to Bobby Watson, who moved to New York to further their careers in the jazz mecca of the world. Since then, Kane has emerged as an in-demand sideman and session player noted for his swinging, rhythmically engaging style. He is also an educator, passing the tradition along at his Matt Kane School of Drumming.

Tags

11
Album Review

Matt Kane: The Other Side of the Story

Read "The Other Side of the Story" reviewed by Don Phipps


Composer and drummer Matt Kane can write tunes. The Other Side of the Story is loaded with head-nodding musical episodes and pastoral, day-dream ballads. The compositions (all written by Kane) have a Joe Zawinul / Wayne Shorter feel to them, but Kane's own masterful voice is clearly evident in the music. Kane's bandmates contribute mightily to the success of the album. With the lighting speed of an Usain Bolt, Peter Schlamb's chromatic vibraphone solos feature pirouettes and daredevil ...

2
Album Review

Matt Kane: Acknowledgement

Read "Acknowledgement" reviewed by Don Phipps


A hard-charging affair interlaced with charm, Matt Kane's Acknowledgement, surely stands as an homage to some of the jazz giants associated with jny: Kansas City. Three of the compositions were penned by Bobby Watson, who presently calls Kansas City home [and is Director of Jazz Studies at the University of Missouri--Kansas City (UMKC) Conservatory of Music], three by Lee Summit, MO's gifted guitar wunderkind Pat Metheny, and three more by the late (and woefully neglected) Ahmad Alaadeen, a long-time performer ...

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2

Performance / Tour

Jazz This Week: Jacob Fred Jazz Odyssey, Marcello Benetti, Matt Kane, Dave Dickey Big Band, the 442s, and More

Jazz This Week: Jacob Fred Jazz Odyssey, Marcello Benetti, Matt Kane, Dave Dickey Big Band, the 442s, and More

Source: St. Louis Jazz Notes by Dean Minderman

This week's lineup of jazz and creative music in St. Louis features visits from two different drummers leading quartets playing original music, plus the return of a well-known touring act with a revised lineup of players, several shows by local big bands, and more. Let's go to the highlights... Tonight, the Route 66 Jazz Orchestra returns to Kirkwood Station Brewing Company; Cabaret Project St. Louis presents their monthly “Open Stage" at the Tavern of Fine Arts; and the Sidney Street ...

Primary Instrument

Drums

Location

Newark

Willing to teach

Intermediate to advanced

Credentials/Background

Have taught from my home for 20 years and conducted High School Clinics and Jazz Workshops in Kansas City and New York. Studied with Carl Allen, Adam Nussbaum, Billy Hart, Jim Chapin and Ed Soph.

Photos

Music

Recordings: As Leader | As Sideperson

Acknowledgement

Self Produced
2016

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Streamliner

Self Produced
2014

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Suit-Up!

Self Produced
2013

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Videos

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