Matt Panayides: Jazz Guitarist and Composer
Matt Panayides is a Jersey City-based jazz guitarist, composer, and recording artist known for his expressive modern quartet and trio performances. His music blends melodic exploration with rhythmic drive, showcased across critically acclaimed albums including Field Theory and With Eyes Closed.
Artist: MATT PANAYIDES TRIO Title: WITH EYES CLOSED
Release Date: September 20, 2024 Label: Pacific Coast Jazz Catalog Number: PJ93456 UPC Code: 829166934567TRACK LISTING 1. Simone (Frank Foster) 4:51 2. Straight Up and Down (Chick Corea) 3:40 3. I Fall in Love too Easily (Jules Stein) 7:06 4. Hindsight (Cedar Walton) 5:06 5. Nefertiti (Wayne Shorter) 5:09 6. Serenity (Joe Henderson) 4:42 7. Ju Ju (Wayne Shorter) 6:50 8. Mode for Joe (Cedar Walton) 5:07 9. Moon River (Henri Mancini) 4:33 10. The Moontrane (Woody Shaw) 5:22 11. Darn That Dream (Jimmy Van Huesen) 4:16 Total: 57:02
Matt Panayides is a guitarist who has long had his own style. His harmonically adventurous playing, at times a bit reminiscent of Jim Hall and Pat Martino, is filled with fresh and personal chord voicings. While his previous recording, Field Theory, put the focus on electronics, With Eyes Closed has more of an acoustic sound. This is not only Panayides’ first trio album, but his first to concentrate on jazz standards. Joined by bassist Steve LaSpina and drummer Anthony Pinciotti, Panayides digs into eight songs by six jazz composers (including two apiece by Cedar Walton and Wayne Shorter) plus reinvented versions of three standards. The emphasis is on close interplay between the three musicians with LaSpina and Pinciotti getting a generous amount of solo space and contributing inventive accompaniment behind the guitarist. The veteran songs are transformed into explorative post-bop while retaining the essence of their melodies. Among the pieces that are uplifted by the trio are Frank Foster’s jazz waltz “Simone,” a blazing rendition of Chick Corea’s “Straight Up And Down,” Cedar Walton’s “Hindsight,” a tasteful yet passionate revival of Wayne Shorter’s “Nefertiti,” and Joe Henderson’s “Serenity.” Cedar Walton’s “Mode For Joe” swings hard, as does Shorter’s “Ju Ju” and Woody Shaw’s “Moon Trane.” “I Fall In Love Too Easily” is given an imaginative reharmonization, “Moon River” is reinvented as an introspective unaccompanied guitar showcase, and “Darn That Dream” becomes a thoughtful statement by Panayides and the bowed bass of LaSpina. Matt Panayides has created consistently stimulating music throughout his career. Originally a pianist, he initially became a guitarist inspired by Jimi Hendrix and Jimmy Page before discovering jazz. Panayides studied at the Manhattan School Of Music (guitarist Rodney Jones and pianist Garry Dial were important inspirations) and earned a Masters from William Paterson University. He has since headed his own creative jazz groups and led three albums for the Pacific Coast Jazz label before With Eyes Closed: Tapestries Of Song, Conduits, and Field Theory. Each of those albums featured Panayides exploring his own colorful originals. Throughout With Eyes Closed, Matt Panayides puts his stamp on jazz standards, showing just how innovative and fresh his playing has become.
Matt Panayides is a guitarist and composer based in New York City whose music is marked by clarity, lyricism, and a deeply personal sense of improvisation. Inspired by figures such as Jim Hall, John Scofield, Wes Montgomery, and Joni Mitchell, Panayides has steadily cultivated a sound that is both rooted in the jazz tradition and unmistakably his own.
Performing at New York venues including Smalls Jazz Club, Mezzrow, Birdland, and Brvsh Cu7tur3, he has also brought his music to audiences across the United States through tours with his trios and quartets. His groups have appeared at Rudy’s Jazz Room (Nashville), The Century Room (Tucson), Merrimen’s Playhouse (South Bend), Mr. Henry’s (Washington, DC), and stages throughout the Midwest and mid-Atlantic — experiences that continue to shape the direction of his recent work.
In 2024 he released With Eyes Closed, a trio recording with Steve LaSpina and Anthony Pinciotti. His earlier albums on Pacific Coast Jazz — Field Theory (2021), Conduits (2015), and Tapestries of Song (2011) — chart his development as a composer and improviser, often in close collaboration with longtime partners such as Rich Perry and Mark Ferber.
A meaningful dimension of Panayides’ musical life has also been his connection to the Seoul jazz community, where he spent several formative years and where he continues to perform at venues including All That Jazz, Club Evans, and major festivals in Daegu and Jongno, collaborating with musicians such as Oh Jong Dae, Chris Varga, and Kim Sung Su.
Originally from the Midwest, Panayides began on piano before moving to guitar and eventually pursuing jazz studies at the Manhattan School of Music and William Paterson University. His work reflects an ongoing commitment to exploration, nuance, and the continual refinement of a personal musical language.