https://www.allaboutjazz.com/with-eyes-cosed-matt-panayides-pacific-coast-jazz
Matt Panayides: With Eyes Closed
By Richard J Salvucci
February 10, 2025
This is a charming recording: reflective, tranquil and built around the compositions of some of the most distinguished players and composers of what ought to be called the American Jazz Songbook. Here you have music written by Wayne Shorter, Joe Henderson, Woody Shaw, Cedar Walton and Chick Corea, to name only the figures in one strain. If taste runs to Jimmy van Huesen, Frank Foster, Henry Mancini, or Jules Stein, well, that is more than adequately covered. Pianoless trios are hardly a novelty anymore, but Matt Panayides, Steve LaSpina and Anthony Pinciotti combine about as gracefully as a listener could want. The world is frantic; the recording is a welcome respite. And this is not dinner jazz or something of that ilk.
Listen to the deft interplay between guitar, bass and drums—harmonic and rhythmic—on "Ju Ju" or "Nefertiti." The recording may be titled With Eyes Closed but that is probably not a good strategy for the ears. LaSpina's chops and Scott LaFaro-like lines mesh well with Panayides' acoustic reflections, all moved along by Pinciotti's tastefully understated drumming, especially on "Ju-Ju," where Pinciotti plays the bass drum in an extended solo without shaking the bookshelves on which the speakers may be resting. "Serenity" is hard- swinging but never boisterous with Panayides as the lead voice. The recording may be an act of conversation, but it is a witty one, as collective improvisation ideally is. Everybody has lots of chops, clearly, but they are deployed in the service of artistry, not showing off. Nice touch, as Miles Davis used to say, is a mild understatement.
Someone might be pardoned for wondering if "Moon River" and "Darn That Dream" are really going to work with the rest of the repertoire? "Moon River" turns out to be a solo vehicle for Panayides, and a very original one in which no one will remember Andy Williams. Panayides and LaSpina get together on "Darn that Dream." Here LaSpina's arco on the bass is quite musical and affecting, the perfect foil to Panayides rubato, slightly held-back phrasing. So, yes, musicianship and good taste basically bridge gaps in genre and generation. Good players can make anything sound pretty, and this trio is composed of nothing if not very good players.
Matt Panayides / FIELD THEORY
Reviews
March 19, 2021
The Jazz Owl by Travis Rogers, Jr.
The entirety of Field Theory is a marvelous foray into musical and tonal expansion. The bent notes, the tight arrangements, the harmonies, and those brilliant improvisations make this one of the most intriguing albums of the year. Panayides and the band do not disappoint.”
“Field Theory is a fascinating and insightful album, full of thought-provoking and meditative compositions within a format of masterful artists who contribute as well as execute. With a look back to classic Jazz guitar and a look forward to what awaits Jazz guitar, Matt Panayides provides the prism through which we may look in wonder.”
http://travisrogersjr.weebly.com/music-reviews/matt-panayides-explains-field-theory
March 15, 2021
Field Theory added to rotation on WVIA-FM 89.9, Scranton, PA by George Graham
http://georgegraham.com/playlist.html
March 8, 2021
Neon Jazz Interview (podcast) with Joe Dimino, Kansas City
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4AGi_QdUeLg
March 8, 2021
Midwest Record by Chris Spector
“A hot, hopping and bopping set… Solid stuff throughout, this is really music to get your motor running. Well done.”
http://midwestrecord.com/MWR1749.html
March 8, 2021
Jazz Music Archives by John Sanders
“Matt’s approach is high energy as he draws from post-bop, jazz rock and free jazz in his solos and in his compositions. Matt can fire off high speed runs that never sound gratuitously flashy, and he provides enough interesting twists and turns so that expected clichés are avoided. Matt Panayides’ guitar has enough ‘shredding’ to appeal to the fusion fans, but also enough swing and melodic invention for the jazzers. His compositions are complex and full of unexpected twists and are very much on top of what is happening in jazz today. Overall, this CD displays an excellent balance between clever intellect and hard workin’ sweat.”
https://www.jazzmusicarchives.com/review/field-theory/482311
February 27, 2021
Contemporary Fusion Reviews by Dick Metcalf
“I’ve actually been impressed by Matt’s stellar guitar work for some time now… I first reviewed his work on his “Tapestries of Song” album many years ago; I’m even more stunned as I listen to his new release and its modern highly original contemporary jazz…”
https://contemporaryfusionreviews.com/modern-highly-original-contemporary-jazz/
CONDUITS Reviews:
http://www.midwestrecord.com/MWR981.html
MATT PANAYIDES/Conduits: The jazz guitar man with 15 smoking years under his belt of knowing his way around daddio jazz took it to the streets to let the fans have their say via Kickstarter so he could have his say in the studio. This is one of those times when the pairing works royally because it sounds like Panayides went out of his way not to let anybody down. The Wes comparisons are inevitable, but this cat stands on his own two feet. Well done.
CHRIS SPECTOR, Editor and Publisher
CD Review: http://www.jazzweekly.com/2015/10/matt-panayides-conduits/
Matt Panayides: “Conduits” (2015) CD Review
Matt Panayides is a jazz guitarist and composer, and his new album, Conduits, features all original material which he composed, arranged and produced. This is his second album as a leader, following 2011’s Tapestries Of Song. As with that first CD, here he is joined by Rich Perry on tenor saxophone. Rich Perry has released several of his own albums, including this year’s Organique. Also joining Matt Panayides are Thomson Kneeland on bass and Mark Ferber on drums. (Kneeland too has been band leader on several CDs, most recently on 2010’s Mazurka For A Modern Man, and Mark Ferber has played with a wide range of folks on both coasts.) This album was recorded in New York on June 6th, 2014.
The CD opens with “Notes From The Anechoic Chamber,” which has a really nice groove on drums and bass. And it isn’t long before Matt Panayides delivers some wonderful stuff on guitar, while that great groove continues. I also love Rich Perry’s lead on saxophone, and the way the guitar still offers interesting stuff beneath it. An anechoic chamber, by the way, is a soundproof room, designed to completely absorb reflections of sound, to keep exterior noise out. From what I understand, it’s difficult to stay in one of these rooms for very long, as you begin to hear all your bodily sounds and nothing else. This tune, however, has a very positive vibe, without hints of stress or anxiety that might be caused by remaining in one of these rooms.
It’s followed by “The Past Is Obdurate,” and almost immediately the guitar and saxophone are working in conjunction, and it sounds great. The guitar seems to want to go off in a solo, do some exploring, but the saxophone asserts itself, holds on. And then surprisingly a drum solo emerges. This is less than a minute and a half into the track. And it isn’t until after the saxophone and guitar have revisited that theme (and this time with more insistence) that the guitar is allowed to take a lead spot. I really appreciate the journey of this tune, though I do wish it had a stronger ending rather than fading out. Though perhaps that fade-out helps lead into the following track, “Heny’s Tune,” which begins like a sweet lullaby. And the saxophone is so gentle when it comes in. This is a beautiful late-night track, which takes on a more romantic bent, and yet still has the freedom to explore some areas within its sweet world, particularly on guitar. This one ends up being one of my favorite tracks. It just makes me feel really good. And then “Awaken” has kind of kind of an older and lively jazz feel, taking us back several decades. I love the way the bass becomes dominant, demanding attention at points during that great lead guitar spot by Matt. This is another favorite of mine.
“Gravity And Walt” begins with a guitar solo, and the other musicians don’t come in until about a minute into the tune. There is something kind of beautiful about this track, something light at times, and there is also a great jam feel to it. “Watcher” has a different feel that I really got into, and features some free-moving work on saxophone. The CD then concludes with “Of The Winter Light,” which begins with a mellow guitar solo, and soon builds into something wonderful, with a bright, energetic, positive vibe. This is another highlight of the CD.