After hearing his father play the guitar in the house for several years and being captivated by Michael Jackson’s “Thriller”, and the virtuosic piano playing of Johnny Costa on Mr. Rogers Neighborhood, Matt Nelson began piano lessons with his parents at age 5. He met his future friend, Matt Nischan, a drummer and an audio engineer. The two Matts spent hours jamming as kids, trying to find melodies and beats in pop and current music and Nintendo games. Nelson was 13 years old when he reached a stumbling block with his piano studies. He began studying jazz with Tara Singer, a pianist. Nelson was first introduced to jazz by Singer. Singer also introduced Nelson to Chick Corea’s “Now He sings, Now He sobs,” which was a hugely influential record. Nelson continued to study with Singer until the end of high school. Nelson spent high school studying drums and rhythm, as well as vibraphone and marimba. After high school, Nelson met Nischan and began a long period in creativity and musical exploration. Both chose to go to the College of Lake County, while Nischan purchased a digital home recording rig. Nelson was Nelson’s home, where they spent many months creating and recording music. Many of the songs on “Nostalgiamaniac” were created at this time. In 2003, Nelson made the move to Chicago to study at Columbia College Chicago. He met a group of young musicians who were like-minded, and he’s been working with them ever since. Nelson studied jazz piano and music arranging at Columbia University, which helped him develop musical skills and build relationships that are still a benefit to his career. He can currently be found recording and performing with many artists in the Chicago area. Matt performs regularly with Matthew Santos, a Grammy-nominated artist (who recently released “This Burning Ship of Fools”)), Graham Czach, rock phenom (also the bassist of the Matt Nelson Trio), and jazz musicians Aaron Koppel (recently mentioned in Downbeat magazine), Shawn Maxwell (recently featured) and Keri Johnsrud. He also recorded and arranged for the acclaimed hip-hop artist Lupe Fiasco. Matt plans to tour with Lupe’s band at Australia’s Big Day Out festival in January 2011. Matt is also an arranger and producer for Let Me Introduce You To the End, one of Krakow’s most popular bands. He has performed with the band several times in Poland and Eastern Europe. Their next album, “Of Ghost” is scheduled to be released in late 2010. from http://chicagosessions.com
