MATT GARRITY TRIO featuring
Pete Smith- guitar
John Menegon- bass
Matt Garrity- drums
This stellar lineup will be performing some swingin straight ahead jazz repertoire as well as some Samba and Bossa Nova from composers such as Thelonious Monk, Miles Davis, and Antonio Carlos Jobim. Grounded in the moment and spontaneity, these three musicians have played countless gigs together over the years in various configurations, and have a strong bond as a trio.
MATT GARRITY
Drummer, Matt Garrity has been on the music scene since 1994. He has performed and recorded with some of the best in the business, including Grammy winners, Joe Lovano, Vincent Herring and Steve Slagle, as well as David Williams, Teri Thornton, Peter Bernstein, David Amram, Eric Alexander, Gary Versace, Ron McLure, Ed Cherry, Ben Monder, Ratzo Harris, Joel Forrester, Jeremy Pelt and Jerome Richardson, among others.
Since 2017, Garrity has been producing BARNSTOCK, a jazz series from his studio in Woodstock, NY. The space is set in the top floor of a renovated 1911 barn. It’s a warm, intimate setting for hearing some of the best musicians on the scene.
Garrity’s past collaborations include Ed Cherry, Peter Bernstein, Joe Lovano., Pete Levin, Peter Einhorn, Bill Ware, Teri Roiger, John Menegon, Steve Slagle and more.
“Matt is a swinging drummer and true keeper of the flame.”
-Vincent Herring, saxophonist
PETE SMITH
Pete Smith is a New York City-based guitarist who performs in a wide range of musical settings. As a founding member of Grupo los Santos, a vanguard Afro-Cuban and Brazilian-style quartet, he has played New York’s Town Hall and concerts throughout the U.S., Cuba & Austria. He has performed at the Berlin Jazz Festival and Montreal Jazz Festival, as well as concerts in thirty countries throughout Europe, Eastern Europe, Africa and Asia. He has worked with Norah Jones, trumpeter Donald Byrd, Cuban trombone master Juan Pablo Torres, Andrew Hill, Kat Edmonson, Vince Giordano & the Nighthawks, the Moonlighters, Madeline Peyroux, Natalie Merchant and Huun- Huur-Tu, and is a member of Michael Feinstein’s Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra. New releases to look out for are Santos’ fourth album “Santos 4” and an album with bassist Sean Smith (The Smith Duo).
JOHN MENGON
Menegon started his career as a jazz bassist in Montreal. After having worked for several years on the Canadian jazz scene with the great guitarists Sonny Greenwich, Mike Gauthier & Nelson Simons, and saxophonists Steve Grossman & Pat LaBarbara, he then went on to hone his skills in NYC in the mid-80s. Since moving to New York City to study Jazz at Long Island University on a full scholarship, John has performed/recorded with Dewey Redman, David “Fathead” Newman, Matt Wilson, Frank Kimbrough, John Hicks, Yoron Israel, Jack DeJohnette, Kenny Burrell, Kenny Barron, Bruce Barth, Paul Bley, Anthony Braxton’s Tri-Centric Orchestra, Nick Brignola, Bob Meyer, Jimmy Cobb, Al Foster, Slide Hampton, Pat Metheny, Sheila Jordan, Lee Konitz, J.R. Monterose, Joe Lovano, and many others.
