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Bio

Mario Mattia is an improvisational pianist, classically trained, a graduate of the New England Conservatory of Music. His improvisations are an amalgam of many musical styles and genres. As a young boy, he fell in love with many jazz artists including personal favorites Ella, Art, Oscar and Myles. His classical piano studies gave him Bach, Chopin, Brahms, Mozart. Symphonies and chamber works opened the world of Bartok, Stravinsky, Mahler among many others. His non-tonal world opened with exposure to Schoenberg, Webern, Carter, Boulez et al. And among improvisational artists, Keith Jarrett and Chick Corea are major influences. Ambient music has also been impactful, with his primary inspiration coming from Brian Eno. Rock, progressive in particular, played a role – King Crimson, Yes, Pink Floyd, Frank Zappa, Genesis, Dream Theater and Symphony X are among favorites.

In his late twenties and thirties, his musical focus included his progressive rock band, Möbius which he founded and directed. He composed all the music as well as transcribing classical pieces (Bartok Bulgarian Dances for example) for the band. During that time, he also composed several film scores for RI based organizations (PBS/R.I. and Bradley Hospital) as well as privately teaching piano, composition, and theory. In his forties, he found his musical voice – improvisational piano.

His improvs are not composed or in any way pre-conceived. They are extemporaneous journeys. He sits at the piano, eyes closed, and when freed of any intrusions, presses the record button (if recording) and begins to play. Where the improv will travel in terms of length, tonal and/or non-tonal influences, rhythm, form, tempo, etc., develop with no pre-determined notions. His frequent improvisational journeys, whether recorded or not, are, for him, highly meditative, stopping the world completely and launching him into the sonic beyond. May they be for you as well.

As the Möbius represents infinity, his improvs explore the infinite possibilities of musical form and structure. His improvs fall into three genres:

Tonal - (meditative)
Non - tonal - (abstract)
Tonal - Non-tonal - (freeform).

His three separate album releases reflect each of these genres. Note that the Vol. 1 series consists primarily of improvs he recorded between 2000 and 2005. However, one is from 2011, one from 2014, and one from 2019 (representative of his latest work). Selected Improvisations Volume 1, and Improvisations Volume 2 are now available for streaming as well as for downloading on this site.

Everything he knows, everything he feels, are expressed through his improvs. It is his hope that the improvs provide a worthy voice to your listening experience.


About Me

At ten years old, I asked my dad for trumpet lessons. He responded, “why play the trumpet when you can learn to play piano and have the entire range of an orchestra at your disposal?” Seemed a good idea and I am forever grateful to have been given the opportunity. My bio gives you an overview of my career in music, but it is the last twenty years that have provided me the time to explore and hone my personal musical voice – piano improvisation.



I have spent countless hours listening to all genres of music. I have had innumerable improv sessions, time alone at the piano in the quiet of my rural woodland setting, to experiment with, to re-imagine, to push the limits of all I know about musical form and structure. These opportunities have proven invaluable.

Mandolin
These past years have also given me the opportunity to develop the skill to tune and voice my piano to the exacting requirements of recording. Tuning/voicing are particularly important considering my use of non tonal elements and dissonance. I work quite a bit with upper partials, dissonances, and interacting harmonics which, depending on tuning, can sound glorious or grating.

Thomas Russell
My goal has been to create improvs that, after recording, seem like viable compositions... like composing on the run in real time. I want an intimate sound where you are right there in the room with me. My preferred close microphone placement reflects my goal to have you hear precisely what I hear while recording. It is my hope that my years of improvisatory work offer you unique, interesting listening experiences.


Improvisation

  • “When you hear Bach or Mozart, you hear perfection. Remember that Bach, Mozart and Beethoven were great improvisers.”

    – Dave Brubeck

  • “Improvisation is not the expression of accident but rather of the accumulated yearnings, dreams and wisdom of our very soul.”

    – Yehudi Menuhin

  • “Self study leads to improvisation and improvisation leads to evolution.”

    – Oscar Auliq-Ice

  • “Learn the rules and then break them in such a way as to exercise good taste.”

    – George Shearing

  • “Improvisation is the ability to create something very spiritual, something of one's own.”

    – Sonny Rollins

  • “When we improvise freely – that is, without a structure – it tends to sound more like 20th century classical music, more like a classical ensemble improvising, as opposed to a free-jazz group, where you're more used to hearing saxophones honking.”

    ― John Abercrombie

  • “Improvisation is the power of spontaneous observation.”

    ― Wyatt Pringle

  • “Learn everything, then forget it all.”

    ― Charlie Parker

  • “I'll play it first and tell you what it's called later.”

    ― Miles Davis

  • “...And as regards method, the improviser employs the oldest in music-making... Mankind's first musical performance couldn't have been anything other than a free improvisation.”

    ― Derek Bailey

  • “Improvisation is intuition in action, a way to discover the muse and learn to respond to her call.”

    ― Stephen Nachmanovitch