Mat Walerian. Jazz musician and composer. Mat Walerian, a jazz saxophonist, composer, and woodwind player (alto, bass clarinet and flute), is an avant-garde musician and bandleader. His studies were mainly focused on Japanese culture and eastern philosophy. Except for a few lessons, he is a self-taught musician. He occasionally takes lessons from Matthew Shipp or Hamid Drake who he cites as crucial to his growth. His style falls somewhere between hard bop and modern jazz, with a nod to the avant-garde. His creation has been influenced by jazz classics, classical music, and Indian classical music. Mat collaborates with musicians from many musical streams, including jazz, contemporary, avant-garde, and improvised electronica. M-THEORY PROJECT and TOXIC are his musical projects. Mat’s projects include classical chamber music, jazz standards, and Asian scales. Mat is also the art director of OKUDEN MUSIC. This concert series presents the “sound to the depths” of jazz as well as improvised avantgarde music. Mat enjoys nature and wildlife phenomenons. From www.matwalerian.com
