In This Present Moment

A magical debut:
Matthew Von Doran can be very proud of his initial release. Not only has he corralled some of the very finest jazz players on the planet, he has also written a clutch of smart, vital tunes in a wide variety of moods. Let's start with the players. Any young jazzer would kill to play with instrumentalists of this caliber on his maiden voyage. The drums corps alone boggles the mind: Peter Erskine, former Weather Report drummer and leader of numerous; Terri Lynn Carrington, herself a drum master, band leader, and composer of note; Gary Novak, in-demand session man and holder of the drum chair on Joe Locke's two recent winners; and Marcus Baylor, the current Yellowjackets' drummer. Throw in Jimmy Haslip, James Genus, and LA studio vet Darek "Oles" Oleszkiewicz on bass, Larry Goldings on organ, and Bob Sheppard and Bob Mintzer on sax, and you've got quite a crew. The disc splits the difference between smooth (although not in a jazz lite sense) and skanky, the former usually in a quartet (guitar, sax, bass, drums) format and the latter in a organ trio mode, with vibes substituting for sax on a couple of numbers. The tunes show a variety, depth, and maturity of compositional moves uncommon for one so young. Obviously, he's listened to the jazz organ masters, classic--Larry Young, Jimmy Smith, Don Patterson, Charles Earland--and modern--Larry Goldings (who plays on three cuts), Sam Yahel, and George Colligan--and imbibed the vibe, which he very attractively presents. But he's also listened to his Pat Metheny, whom he slyly conjures on nylon string guitar on a couple cuts. A very attractive initial offering, branding Mathew Von Doran as someone to watch very carefully. Easily recommended.

A fantastic CD by a fantastic guitar player!:
Although Matthew Von Doran is not as prolific as the jazz giants featured on this CD, his debut record, "In This Present Moment", proves that both his skill as a composer and as an instrumentalist are phenomenal. While he shares few stylistic similarities to Metheny, Scofield, and Abercrombie, Von Doran has created a sound very much his own. From angular the tracks "Cable" and "Trick", to the ethereal ballad "Somewhere Before", to high-energy, fast-paced tunes such as "Critical Mass" and "Vanity Strikes", this record stands as a testament to Von Doran's ability to create a collection of tracks that each offer something different to the listener. This is a great CD, and hopefully this is the first of many albums to follow.