Dead Cat Bounce

Dead Cat Bounce, Boston's Outstanding Jazz Act (Boston Music Awards, Phoenix Music Poll and Improper Bostonian) and recipient of commissions from Meet the Composer and Chamber Music America, is one of the few recent jazz bands to have arrived on the scene with its own distinctive voice. Featuring four saxophones of all ranges plus upright bass and drums, Dead Cat Bounce is the unique artistic vision of Matt Steckler, its founder and leader. The group formed late in 1997 as a recording project. Word of DCB's high caliber as a performance ensemble quickly spread, and now the group plays festivals, concert series and notable clubs throughout North America.

Dead Cat Bounce invokes Charles Mingus and the World Saxophone Quartet with their “tightly arranged, swirling contrapuntal reeds and multi-part, blues n' roots-infused tricky compositions” (Jon Garelick, the Boston Phoenix). Their eclectic approach to rhythm is informed by traditions from the Caribbean, Deep South, Brazil, West Africa, Eastern Europe and Detroit. In Dead Cat Bounce, solo and collective improvisations energetically complement the poise of its ever-expanding compositional repertoire. According to Dave Liebman, Dead Cat Bounce “does it all with exquisite writing, the subtle use of a bass-drum rhythm section and above all a definite sense of communication between the members that I am sure will be apparent to even the casual listener. These young, Boston-based musicians are not just playing the music on the page, but listening and communing together.”