Monday 10.28  Jack London Revue  Peter Epstein Sam Minaie & Matt Mayhall  $15 8pm

A decades-long musical relationship born in Reno, NV culminates with the music on Corduroy – drummer Matt Mayhall’s third album as a leader and his first for PJCE
Records since relocating to Portland from Los Angeles – has the urgency of a first meeting, and
indeed serves as a document of the first time Mayhall, saxophonist Peter Epstein and bassist
Sam Minaie convened in a studio as a trio.
The chemistry of the trio is evident throughout. The tunes are varied in their approach, but the
depth in the level of communication between the three master musicians remains constant.
Epstein, Minaie, and Mayhall are all adept at improvisational music that floats and flows like it
does on the opener, “Waltz” and their unique interpretation of Ellington’s classic, “Come
Sunday.” But they also display a knack for grooving as they do on numbers like the
easy-swingin’ “Petrichor” and the hypnotic “Dumb Melody.” The musicians push and pull together in such a way that it is clear the rapport and shared musical language on Corduroy
has been in the making for quite some time.
Mayhall and Minaie have been based on opposite coasts for most of their careers, but they
were both raised in Reno, NV and spent their formative years as a package deal rhythm team.
The two were students in music at the University Of Nevada Reno in 2001 when they took a
summer trip together to New York City to attend an intensive workshop hosted by The School
for Improvisational Music. There they met Epstein, a founding member and instructor at SIM. A
year later, Epstein found himself in Reno as the new instructor of jazz saxophone at UNR after a
whirlwind 10 years on the Brooklyn scene.
Epstein began his career in 1984 in Portland, where he apprenticed with many of the region’s
top jazz artists until relocating to Los Angeles to study at California Institute Of The Arts and
eventually landing in Brooklyn, NY. Epstein is known for his work with artists like Brad Shepik,
Ralph Alessi, Bobby Previte, James Carney, Joao Paulo, Jim Black, Scott Colley, Ravi Coltrane,
Medeski, Martin, & Wood, Peter Erskine, and many others. He has recorded eight critically
acclaimed albums as a leader/collaborator.
With Epstein as their mentor, Mayhall and Minaie were introduced to a brand of improvising and
on-the-bandstand training most would assume could only be found at an East Coast
conservatory. Inspired by Epstein and the rich musical landscape he inhabited, Mayhall and
Minaie were eventually accepted into the renowned MFA program in Jazz Studies at Cal Arts
founded by the legendary bassist Charlie Haden. Each have since gone on to play and record
with some of the most revered figures in improvised music.
Matt Mayhall has been characterized by Modern Drummer Magazine as an artist who “rolls his
diverse skills into one, untidy, rumbling package.” He has performed and/or recorded with an
eclectic range of world-renowned artists, including Jeff Parker, Chris Speed, Aimee Mann, Ethan
Iverson, Ted Leo, Fred Armisen, and Charlie Haden. He now calls Portland home after nearly 20
years of work in Los Angeles.
Sam Minaie is based in New York City. He has toured and recorded with Tigran Hamasyan,
Kneebody, Donny McCaslin, Dhafer Youssef, Jeff Ballard, Nate Wood, Mark Guiliana, Patti
Austin, Melody Gardot, Tootie Heath, Jean-Michel Pilc, Ari Hoenig, Shai Maestro, Ben Wendel
and numerous others. As a producer and post production engineer, Sam has mixed and
mastered dozens of records and is the founder of birdFood Studio in NYC.
After talking about making a record for almost twenty years, these three old friends finally came
together for two sessions over two days in New York at Minaie’s home studio, and the result is
an album each player considers among their best work to date.