Matt Schofield is a British guitarist playing Rhythm and Blues, and doing it so well that commentators on both sides of the Atlantic are saying great things.
In Schofield, the UK has produced the best blues guitarist from any country in decades.
LA DAILY NEWS, USA
The best of his generation's European players. His feel for the music is incredible.
VINTAGE GUITAR, USA
Top ten British Blues guitarists of all time.
GUITAR AND BASS
The UK’s most exciting blues guitar player.
GUITARIST
In his relatively short career Matt's prowess as a blues guitarist has taken his band to twelve countries; seen him playing with iconic guitarists like Robben Ford; and brought him high praise in the Penguin Book of Blues Recordings as one of only two living British artists in recording history to gain a maximum four-star rating.
Biography and discography
Born in Manchester UK in 1977, Matt was immersed in the blues from a young age thanks to his Dad's record collection. A professional guitarist from age 18 Schofield left it relatively late to start his own recording career, choosing first to learn his trade as a sideman, initially with bandleader and harp player Lee Sankey. He then spent four years with British Blues Diva and David Bowie prodigy Dana Gillespie, touring the UK, Europe and as far a field as India.
Seven years into life as a pro, he formed his own band - a trio - with Hammond organist, Jonny Henderson and drummer, Evan Jenkins (now with BBC Jazz Award winner, Neil Cowley). The trio was unconventional in having no bass player, bass duties being handled on the Hammond organ, a format favoured over the years by American bluesmen such as Albert King and Jimmie Vaughan.
The result was The Trio, Live, an eight-track taster of things to come. For what was a low budget, off-the-cuff and all-covers recording it elicited high praise along with airplay on both sides of the Atlantic and a BBC Radio 2 live session.
With his two subsequent releases (05's Siftin' Thru Ashes and 07's Ear To The Ground) Schofield consolidated his sound, delivering a powerful mix of Blues and New Orleans funk unlike anything else on the block. It was hard to pigeon-hole a band that could mine a deep blues trench one minute, effortlessly pull off a Meters anthem the next and then just as successfully revitalise the sixties Box Tops song, The Letter.
Fast forward to May, 2009 and Schofield's third studio recording Heads, Tails And Aces. This time Schofield has a bass player and a new drummer and an album with a greater focus on blues. Gone are the interspersed instrumental funk tracks that characterised previous albums and led some commentators to label Schofield as much jazz, as blues. In their place is an entirely song-based album, with nine of the eleven tracks written or co-written by Schofield.
Matt is signed to Nugene Records and managed by Nugene Music And Management.
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THE TRIO, LIVE (NUG601)
The first CD. Recorded in a small club in 2003. It rocks! |
SIFTIN' THRU ASHES (NUG501)
1st studio album. Independent Blues & Jazz CD of the week |
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LIVE AT THE JAZZ CAFE (NUG503)
The biggest version ever of Light Are On!
Exclusively from nugenerecords.com, or at shows. |
EAR TO THE GROUND (NUG702)
Blues Pick of 2007, BBC Radio 2 |
Available from nugenerecords.com or most good record stores and online retailers. Also at itunes and other digital sites.
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