Iberica by Matt Otto

Perhaps the greatest achievement of the American musical phenomenon we call jazz is its ability to embrace virtually any and every kind of music known to man, taking the specific aesthetic traits of its muse and drawing profound depth through compositional and spontaneous exploration. Matt Otto is without peer as a leading academic in the field of jazz, yet he is continually informed and inspired by a diverse set of influences outside the genre, including writers and philosophers like Langston Hughes and W.E.B. Du Bois, and classical composers and performers from J.S. Bach to Glenn Gould. It was not, then, an unusual decision by Beau Bledsoe, guitarist and founder of the Kansas City-based arts organization Ensemble Ibérica, to approach Otto, asking him to compose for and record an album with Ibérica’s resident guitar trio, Guitarras Ibéricas. The group, lead by Bledsoe with fellow guitarists Michael McClintock and Jordan Shipley, perform the music of the Iberian Peninsula (the land mass upon which lie the countries of Spain and Portugal) and from other lands ranging from Argentina to the Ozark Mountains.

They do this on a plethora of stringed instruments, including Turkish oud, South American charango, cello, lute, and baroque, flamenco, electric and nearly every other kind of guitar. This multifaceted sonic array seems, after the fact, tailor-made for Matt Otto’s compositional style. Otto, as a lover of counterpoint, uses it extensively in his own works, weaving intricate countermelodies around and in-between the primary melody. He manages to do this while keeping the music from sounding overly pedantic and dense, weighed down by so many notes. His melodies are, when considering modern jazz composers, among the most memorable and beautiful—dare we say melodic. The composer plays down this achievement, dismissing his efforts as “my usual slightly folksy, lyrical tunes with easy chords.” In creating this particular suite of songs, given the orchestration—stringed instruments, bass, keyboards, with Otto leading on tenor saxophone—the tunes are gorgeous, ethereal, even haunting. It will be a challenge to any listener to refrain from singing the melodies from Ibérica days or even weeks later.

The clear, lissome textures of Guitarras Ibéricas are reinforced through the addition of keyboard and acoustic bass, the overall effect allowing for a solid yet supple harmonic foundation to improvise upon. Brad Cox (on Rhodes electric piano) is an influential voice in the Kansas City creative music community, especially through his founding and leadership of his own large group jazz ensemble, the People's Liberation Big Band of Greater Kansas City. Karl McComas-Reichl migrated from his native Wisconsin to New York to study jazz at the New School for Jazz and Contemporary Music, making his mark as a successful jazz musician before moving back to the Midwest. Otto lauds both musicians as vital to the jazz scene in Kansas City. “Brad in particular is one of the best composers in Kansas City,” says Otto, “it’s an honor to have him on the project.”

Ibérica strikes a delicate balance between the impeccable logic of classical composition, the celebration of music and art from many corners of the globe, and the continuation of the incredible legacy of jazz, as seen aurally through the sonic lens of Otto’s insightful and exquisite solos. Otto can improvise melodies on saxophone as strong and as pure as the ones he writes down, and with the intricate yet unobtrusive accompaniment from Guitarras Ibéricas, this suite becomes a true showcase for the master jazz musician. Its understated beauty and latin-influenced aesthetics are reminiscent of the cross-genre offerings by the legendary bassist Charlie Haden (one of Otto’s former mentors) or even those by the great Antonio Carlos Jobim. Ibérica should be lauded for extending the jazz tradition into the 21st century, in keeping with its ability to infuse itself with other musical traditions of the past, present and future.

Gary Fukushima
Jazz Critic for LA Weekly, Faculty at California State University, Northridge
January, 2017

Matt Otto is the assistant director of Jazz Studies KU. He studied at IU, Berklee, New School (BFA) and CalArts (MFA). Performed with Anthony Wilson, Rashid Bakr, Ben Monder, Willie Jones III, Alan Ferber, “Tootie” Heath, Gregory Hutchinson, Charlie Haden , Leroy Vinegar, Jimmy Smith, Ari Honig, Ben Street, Mike Moreno, Danny Weiss, Steve Cardenas, Larry Goldings, Eric Harland and others.

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