Matthew Alec

Bandleader for the jazz fusion group Matthew Alec and The Soul Electric

Nominated as ‘Cleveland’s Best Horn Player’ by Cleveland Scene Magazine, Matthew earned his Bachelor’s Degree in Music from Kent State University in 2007. While at KSU, he studied both 20th century classical music and jazz with Grammy-nominated saxophonist Greg Banaszak and longtime Cleveland Jazz Orchestra trombonist and composer Chas Baker. He is also a two-time attendee of the highly exclusive Inside / Outside Retreat for professional saxophonists held at Wooten Woods just south of Nashville, Tennessee. There he studied music, nature, and life in general with the ‘who’s who’ of world-renowned jazz virtuosos, including saxophonists Bob Reynolds, Bob Franceschini, Joshua Redman, Jeff Coffin, Kirk Whalum, and Steve Wilson, pianist Aaron Goldberg, bassist Victor Wooten, and drummer Roy ‘Futureman’ Wooten. He has had the pleasure of performing with Victor Wooten, Roy ‘Futureman’ Wooten, Saturday Night Live trombonist Steve Turre, and Kenny G bassist Vail Johnson.

Matthew is a founding member of ‘Cleveland’s Best Original Band,’ Winslow. The original soul and funk outfit earned the moniker from both Cleveland Scene Magazine and Cleveland’s Fox 8 News. For nearly 12 years until the group parted ways he performed in many cities across the United States; opening for the likes of Earth, Wind, and Fire, Incubus, Robert Randolph and the Family Band, Keane, Average White Band, Lupe Fiasco, OAR, Rusted Root, Bernie Worrell, Ozomatli, Bret Michaels, and many others. He has also recorded two full length albums as a soloist with the group: Crazy Kind of Love (2008) which featured Parliament/Funkadelic keyboardist Bernie Worrell and Left of the Right Direction (2013), the latter of which he co-produced. Both drew national critical acclaim, features on AOL.com, MSN.com, and Reverbnation.com, and many radio spins across the U.S.

In 2017, he formed the Cleveland-based jazz fusion act Matthew Alec and The Soul Electric. That group's debut album 'Cleveland Time' is due out in 2021 which will feature jazz and soul legend Tom 'Bones' Malone.

As of this year, Matthew also founded Cleveland Time Records, a record label that records, distributes, and promotes jazz artists from the city of Cleveland. Show less