Matt otto

Matt Otto is currently the Assistant Professor of Jazz Studies at Kansas University (KU)  teaching Jazz Theory and Performance, Jazz Combo 1 and private lessons. Matt was also an Adjunct Professor at the Rutgers New Brunswick teaching online courses in jazz improvisation, theory and performance.

Matt Otto studied music performance and composition at Indiana University, Berklee School of Music, New School Jazz (BFA) and California Institute of the Arts (MFA) during which time he studied under Lee Konitz, George Garzone, Billy Pierce, Charlie Haden, Don Hawkins and many others.  Having lived in Japan for 5 years, New York City for 7 years and Los Angels for 6 years, he has performed with a variety of artists including Anthony Wilson, Larry Koonse, Rashid Bakr, Ben Monder, Willie Jones III, Alan Ferber, Mark Ferber, Albert “Tootie” Heath, Gregory Hutchinson, Jonathan Kreisberg, Joe La Barbera, Leroy Vinegar, Bob Bowman, Jimmy Smith, Paul Jackson, Ari Honig, Ben Street, Mike Moreno, Sara Gazarek, Josh Nelson, Peter Schlamb, Danny Weiss, Roger Wilder, William Parker, Matt Wilson, Steve Cardenas, Bobby Watson, Bob Weir, Deborah Brown,  Larry Goldings, Eric Harland, Sheryl Bailey, Darek Oles, Erik McPherson, John Stowell, Danny Embrey, Alan Pasqua, and many others.

While in Los Angeles, Matt co-founded of the Los Angeles Jazz Collective (lajazzcollective.org).  The mission of the collective (LAJC) is to help create opportunities for creative jazz composers and performers to showcase original artistic work and to set up an ongoing Jazz outreach program for young jazz musicians in and around Los Angeles.

Matt currently performs his original compositions with his Kansas City based septet with members Gerald Dunn on alto saxophone, Jeff Harshbarger on acoustic and electric bass, Shay Estes (vocals), TJ Martley on Piano/Keys, Mike Warren and/or Brian Steever on drums and Hermon Mehari on trumpet, as well as traveling several times per year to NYC and LA to perform and record with various jazz artists.

Matt has recorded and performed with the Grammy nominated Anthony Wilson Nonet (The Power of Nine, Groove Note 1035, 2006), The Rashid Bakr Quintet, has performed in Los Angeles with the Grammy Nominated Alan Ferber Big Band as well as having recorded on over 50 CD’s as both a leader and a side man.  See below for a discography of noteworthy recordings.

DAVID VALDEZ

Born in San Francisco in 1967, David grew up in Santa Cruz, California. David picked up the saxophone at the age of 8 years old and attended Berklee College of music on full scholarship, where he studied with George Garzone, Joseph Viola, Herb Pomeroy, Hal Crook and Jimmy Mosher. After Boston Valdez spent time living in San Franscisco, Santa Cruz, Arcata, Santa Fe and New York City before settling in Portland, Oregon in 2000. In the summer of 2016 relocated to Tuscon, Arizona to escape the clouds and bad Mexican food, and now makes his home in the Kansas City area working as a saxophonist, clinician, composer and amatuer food critic after finishing his Masters in Music Composition at University of Kansas.

David Valdez is an internationally recognized artist who has performed/recorded with:
Dave Holland, Clark Terry, Danilo Perez, Bob Moses, Bob Mintzer, Lewis Nash, George Colligan, Matt Wilson, Larry Grenadier, Eddie Marshal, John Medeski, Jeff Ballard, Larry Scheider, Bill Berry, Dred Scott, Charlie Hunter, Liberty Ellman, Mark Levine, Scott Amendola, Kurt Rosenwinkle, Dave Fuiczynski, Josh Roseman, Ben Monder, Matt Otto, Art Lillard, Bob Mover, Donny McCaslin, Ari Hoenig, Doug Webb, Peter Apfelbaum, Ben Allison, Nancy King, David Friesen, Gary Smulyan’s Saxophone Mosaic, Glen Moore, Dave Frishberg, Alphabet Soup, The Drifters, The Four Tops, Ken Schaphorst Big Band, The Bloomdaddies, Jim Black, Mick Goodrick, Either Orchestra, Chuck Isreals Orchestra, Dmitri Matheny, John Stowell, Rebecca Coup Franks, Jeff Baker, Hristo Vitchev, Harvey Wainapel, Essiet Essiet, Sylvia Cuenca, Bob Reynolds, Ronnie Burrage, Sasha Dobson, Jaclyn Guillou, Rebecca Parris, Kitty Margolis, Rick Margitza, Avishai Cohen, Reid Anderson, Gilad Hekselman, Howard Johnson, Bill Watrous, Joel Frahm, Sara Garzek, Toshiko Akioshi, Lew Tabakin, Mudell Lowe, Avishai Cohen, Ted Nash, Jorge Rossi, Pere Soto, Weber Iago, Kenny Brooks, Jesse Murphy, Smith Dobson, Paul Anka, Bert Wilson, Paul Bollenbeck, Kristof Bacso, Eddie Henderson, and Kerry Politzer,

 Festival and concert appearances:Monterey Jazz festival, North Sea Jazz festival, Telluride Jazz festival, 1986 World Expo at Tskuba, Boston Globe Jazz festival, Tanglewood Music festival, Yamano Jazz festival, Bradford Jazz festival  , San Jose Jazz festival, Santa Fe Jazz festival, Jazz under the Stars, Be-Bop and Brew, Cathedral Park Jazz festival, Jazz at Newport Festival, PDX Jazz Festival