Matthew Horton

Jumping Records

Bio

Matthew Horton

Matthew Horton, originally from Nevada, gave his first solo guitar concert at age ten playing instrumental pop tunes for an elementary school night. At age 18 he had contributed his original music to three independent film soundtracks and was playing in clubs and in concert gently torturing audiences with his 6 and 12-string guitar playing. "I got in over my head early in Nevada clubs." says Horton, "By the time I was twenty years old I landed one of the best solo lounge jobs in Reno in 1975 replacing an old pro that deserved better. But I was younger, and pretty in a tuxedo, not old enough to drink yet but suddenly making the big bucks. and that's the biz, the way it still is."

Over the years he continued refining his guitar technique playing mostly west coast gigs and touring into Canada and the Yukon in the guise of a full fledged lounge lizard crooning what the people didn't know they wanted to hear and in his off hours, "working on the other things that no one pays to hear." Through three decades he won guitar wrangling contests in three states and supported himself with tuxedo type gigs on the lounge circuit while honing his originals.

High energy twelve-string instrumentals and Latin jazz guitar stylings are the main thrust of his own musical pursuits. Horton tries to balance his virtuosic technique without sacrificing depth of feeling and audiences are caught up in the obvious joy he gets from playing . His recordings include the latest all instrumental CD for 2003, "Stellar Stomp", 2001's all vocal "Mothertime," 1994 "Emerald Bay Diamonds", 1985 "First Flight," (with Space) and the KEZX album project II.

Featured on the show "Jazz Discoveries" on the BET television network Horton won the title "Seattle's Best Guitarist" in the 1995 Yamaha sponsored Guitarstars competition.

Matthew Horton is a guitarist of amazing range. When he's playing a nylon strung instrument, his repertoire runs the gamut from intimate Brazillian jazz and jazz waltzes to blues flavored fingerpicking in the tradition of Fahey and Kottke to the European classical realm. "It's time for some more Bach," he announces matter-of-factly after John Fahey's "Last Steam Engine Blues." "Malaguena" is delivered with sensitive dynamic variation and breathtaking dexterity.

Horton is also a virtuoso of the twelve-string guitar, ranging from competent, expressive slide blues to Bach's "Jesu, Joy", which appears on CD "Emerald Bay Diamonds". Horton's richly modulated voice, which glides effortlessly between baritone and tenor, is at its best on jazz waltzes like Kenny Rankin's charming "Haven't We Met", and Jobim's "So Danco Samba", though his latest album's real beauty lies in Horton's classical rendition's and his gentle, expressive guitar meditations on nature themes.

Doug Bright, Heritage Music Review