Dmitri Matheny (born December 25, 1965) is an American jazz flugelhornist.
Early career
Matheny was raised in Columbus, Georgia, and Tucson, Arizona. He began playing piano at age 5 and switched to trumpet at age 9 while at the Brookstone School in Columbus. At age 12, his family relocated to Tucson, where he played in his school band program. He led his first group at 16 and received funding from the Tucson Jazz Society to continue his studies. In 1983–84 Matheny attended the Interlochen Arts Academy in Michigan and from 1984–89 Berklee College of Music in Boston.
Matheny performed regularly in the Boston area in 1987–88 with the True Colors Big Band led by composer Ken Schaphorst, and in 1988 with the non-profit Jazz Composers Alliance. From 1985-89 Matheny led the New Voice Jazz Sextet, a band which included at different times saxophonists Mark Gross, Antonio Hart, bassist Peter Herbert, and drummer Hans Schuman, founder of JazzReach.
Matheny began his career playing trumpet, studying for a time with noted New York brass teacher Carmine Caruso, but in the late 1980s he began focusing on the flugelhorn as his primary instrument. He began studying with jazz flugelhornist Art Farmer in 1988.
San Francisco
After moving to San Francisco in 1989, Matheny formed the Dmitri Matheny Group and began performing in the Bay Area. During his early years in San Francisco, Matheny also worked in administrative roles for the San Francisco Jazz Festival.
Matheny's annual home season of concerts were a fixture of the Bay Area jazz scene while he lived there. The year 2000 was a typical home season, in which Matheny shared the stage with the Del Sol String Quartet, pianist Amina Figarova, and vocalist Ann Dyer and hosting a benefit performance at Yoshi's for the University of California, Berkeley-based Young Musicians Program, entitled "Diva Night: International Sirens of Song" and featuring Figarova, vocalist Kim Nalley and Claudia Villela performing with the Dmitri Matheny Orchestra.
Mathey has worked with Larry Coryell, Nathan Davis, Amina Figarova, Tommy Flanagan, Wycliffe Gordon, Larry Grenadier, John Handy, Billy Higgins, Red Holloway, Denise Jannah, James Moody, Tony Reedus, Martha Reeves, Sam Rivers, Max Roach, Dennis Rowland, the Rosenberg Trio, Bobby Rydell, Bud Shank, Shea Marshall, Sonny Simmons, Mary Stallings, Billy Taylor, Bobby Watson, and Paula West.
Notable Bay Area clubs in which Matheny has performed include Yoshi's, Cafe Du Nord, and the Kuumbwa Jazz Center in Santa Cruz.
Among Matheny's many festival appearances are the Berkeley Jazz Festival (1999), Big Sur Jazz Festival (1997), Britt Festival (2001), Caspian Jazz & Blues Festival, Azerbaijan (2002), Monterey Jazz Festival (1989, 1996, 1999, 2004), North Beach Jazz Festival (2000, 2001), Redlands Bowl Summer Music Festival (2002, 2010), San Francisco Jazz Festival (1997, 1998, 2004, 2005), Telluride Jazz Celebration (1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2010) and Thelonious Monk Institute Colony at Jazz Aspen Snowmass (1997, 1998, 1999).
Matheny performed as guest jazz soloist with the Dallas Symphony Orchestra on November 21, 1998 and the San Francisco Symphony on March 17, 2001. He has also worked with the San Francisco Symphony's "Adventures in Music" program.
According to an article in the July 26, 2022 edition of The Chronicle, Matheny relocated to Centralia, Washington in 2015. He released his latest album CASCADIA on Origin Records in 2022, celebrating the Pacific Northwest. It has received some critical acclaim.
Recordings
Monarch Records
In the early 1990s, Matheny moved to San Francisco. In 1995 he signed a contract with Monarch Records. The label released Matheny's first album as a leader, Red Reflections, that year. The album was a mixture of standards and Matheny's compositions that featured performances by saxophonists Rob Scheps and Dave Ellis, guitarist John Heller, bassists Bill Douglass and Trevor Dunn, drummers Scott Amendola and Alan Jones, and percussionist Ian Dogole. An album release concert for Red Reflections took place at Carnegie Hall's Weill Recital Hall in February 1996.
The following year Matheny released his second album, Penumbra: The Moon Sessions. The album the moon as a theme and inspiration and featured saxophonist Dave Ellis, guitarist John Heller, bassist Bill Douglass, drummer Kenny Wollesen, and accordionist Rob Burger. Penumbra, produced by noted jazz producer Orrin Keepnews was named one of the Ten Best Jazz Recordings of 1996 by Jazziz magazine. The San Francisco Bay Guardian called Penumbra the Best Jazz Recording of 1996.