Matt McMahon is one of the very significant group of jazz musicians who have come to prominence since the turn of the century. A pianist, composer, arranger and musical director (as well as one of Eastside Radio’s longest standing presenters) he has been a winner of two of Australia’s most prestigious jazz awards: the National Jazz Piano Award in 1999 and the Freedman Jazz Fellowship in 2005. In January 2018, he celebrates the 20th anniversary of playing in one of his most enduring musical collaborations, the Matt McMahon trio, in which he is joined by Johnathan Brown on bass and Simon Barker on drums. Eastside’s Mick Paddon, presenter of Time and Space, spoke with Matt about the trio, his musical influences, what got him into playing jazz and also asked him to share five pieces of music which are important to him. His selections, containing some surprises which display the breadth of his musical interests, filled half an hour of the hour long programme which went to air during Time and Space on Wednesday January 17th. Matt’s musical selection is:
– an English traditional song, Joe Peel, sung by his brother Matt McMahon
– The Maids of Mitchelstown, played by the Bothy Band on their album Out of the Wind into the Sun
– Le Tombeau de Couperin composed by Maurice Ravel and played by Jean-Yves Thibaudet
– Stella by Starlight performed by the Miles Davis Quintet on their CDs Live at the Plugged Nickle
– Nothing is Enough, from the Wizards of Oz on their CD called Soundtrack.
