Matthew Halsall | Artist
Matthew Halsall is an English jazz musician, composer and producer born 1983 in Manchester, UK. He is also the founder of the independent jazz label Gondwana Records. Halsall's music is inspired by the spiritual jazz of Alice Coltrane, Pharoah Sanders and Miles Davis, with trip hop influences following in the footsteps of The Cinematic Orchestra. Halsall was born and brought up in an artistic environment, with his father an art teacher, and mother an entrepreneur. He was exposed to jazz at an early age and started playing cornet when he was six. When he was twelve, and his hands were big enough to allow him to play trumpet, Halsall joined a local youth big band, of which he was the youngest member. As a teenager he attended masterclasses conducted by visiting trumpeters including Roy Hargrove, Maynard Ferguson and Bobby Shew. Severely dyslexic, Halsall did not do well at school until, in his mid teens, he entered the supportive Maharishi School, where his ongoing interest in yoga, meditation and Eastern philosophy grew. He then studied sound engineering and production at Liverpool Institute For Performing Arts (LIPA). On graduating, he moved to Manchester where he became part of the spiritual jazz movement centred around the city's Matt & Phred's club. Halsall released his debut album Sending My Love in 2008, which was also the first release on Gondwana Records. Success came with his third album On the Go in 2011, which was awarded the Gilles Peterson Worldwide Winners Award, and nominated as best jazz act in the 2011 MOBO Awards. In 2014 he released his fifth album When the World Was One with the eight-member group Gondwana Orchestra. This album was awarded iTunes Jazz Album of the Year 2014. To-date Halsall has released nine studio albums, an archival compilation, a live album and several EPs and Singles. Two of the studio albums are co-credited to the Gondwana Ensemble and one is a collaboration with Dwight Tribble. Standout albums include Sending My Love (2008), Colour Yes (2009), Fletcher Moss Park (2012), When the World Was One (2014), and Salute to the Sun - Live at Hallé St. Peter's (2020). Also recommended is the three-LP set Oneness (2019). Halsall's style, with its relaxed even tranquil "ECM style" quality has been described as "spriritual jazz". And his albums have attracted glowing reviews, such as the following from RYM about When the World Was One "If you're a fan of modal jazz, of "spiritual jazz", of Alice Coltrane, Pharoah Sanders, James Tatum… of the kind of deep, soulful, esoteric jazz that Jazzman has been comping on its Spiritual Jazz releases, do yourself a favour and give this a spin. One of 2014's hidden gems." In an interview reflecting on his influences, Halsall points to a specific event in the late-90s, which set him on his musical course. At a time in the UK when DJ's and producers were exploring the possibilities of sample-based electronica, one memorable DJ set changed everything for Halsall: He witnessed Mr Scruff play Pharoah Sanders' "You've Got to Have Freedom," its circular ecstatic themes spoke to him and kickstarted a lifelong appreciation for and study of, spiritual jazz. From that point he dove deep into modal and spiritual jazz in the works of John and Alice Coltrane, Sanders, Miles Davis, and others.
Artist Website: matthewhalsall.com
Featured Albums: Matthew Halsall
Related Artists: Gondwana Orchestra
