Pianist Matt Ray has been a fixture on the New York jazz scene for more than a decade. He has performed with many great artists, and at just about every venue in town including Smoke, the Jazz Standard, Small's, Birdland, the Blue Note, Dizzy's Club Coca-Cola, Cleopatra's Needle, and the Knitting Factory.
Matt's first album as a leader, We Got It! climbed as high as #12 on the Jazz radio airplay charts, and was the 87th most played jazz CD in America for 2002. His new CD Lost In New York has recently been released. It is a trio record and features the bass playing of Danton Boller (Jazz Mandolin Project, Bennie Wallace, Roy Hargrove), and the drumming of Quincy Davis (Tom Harrell). Lost In New York is currently receiving airplay on jazz radio both nationwide and abroad.
In sixteen years as a professional musician Matt has worked with a diverse group of artists including Joe Lovano, Jeremy Pelt, Anita O'Day, Bobby Hutcherson, Allan Harris, Marcus Belgrave, Curtis Stigers, and many more. His piano skills have allowed him to travel the world. Matt has played in ten foreign countries, and performed in nearly half the states in America. His talents have been requested by dignitaries and heads of state both abroad and right here at home where he has played for President Bill Clinton, Vice-President Al Gore, and Secretary of State Madeline Albright.
In 2000, the Matt Ray Trio toured the Caribbean and Central America for the U.S. State Department as part of the 1999-2000 Kennedy Center's Jazz Ambassadors program. In addition, in 1999 he traveled to his birthplace, Washington D.C., where he was honored as a semi-finalist in the prestigious Thelonious Monk International Jazz Piano Competition. In recent years Matt's performances have taken him to Beijing, Tokyo, and Yokohama.
Not only is Matt Ray popular with the general public, but he is widely respected by other musicians as well. He continues to be a unique and exciting voice in the jazz community.
