Welcome to MattJenson.Com
CHECK OUT this sneak preview video, some rehearsal footage and explanation…
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WELCOME TO my blog and website where you can learn about the various projects I’m working on and bands that I play in:
Rebel Tumbao (AfroLatinRootsReggae)
The Liquid Revolution Band
Also you can link to my involvement in education including my very popular Music and Life of Bob Marley class, Latin Piano Lab and my work as Assistant Professor of piano at Berklee College of Music.
You will find a lot of music on this site that can be accessed in two ways: 1) hit the play button on the player in the upper right hand corner of each page, 2) the site is set up with a ‘one shot’ player (a speaker and play button icon) that I use to drop in pretty much any kind of audio I want including hot-off-the-griddle excerpts of new tunes I’m writing and recording.
Much of my music is influenced by the socio-political happenings of the day and I spend a lot of time thinking about and discussing with friends and colleagues WHAT’s GOING ON as part of a life-long calling I’ve had to revel in the beautiful aspects of life and to continually work towards a deeper understanding of the not so beautiful aspects of how the human race functions. A lot of what I write comes from what I see as our collective inability to put human and environmental welfare before the obsession with material gain and how we continually allow such a tiny minority of people to have such a drastic concentration of power and money.
This is indeed a BLOG site so you’ll see various blog posts on the main page and on various project pages regarding my thoughts and activities. Over on the right, below, I’ve got links to some of the inspiring people out there who are true revolutionary visionaries when it comes to creating and pushing for the desperately needed transformation we need. Also there are a few of my brief writings and my travel blogs.
Don’t forget to sign my mailing list if you dig what you see, hear, read.
1 Love!
What people are saying about Dragonfly Taxi
At the risk of being dramatic, Dragonfly Taxi could be the defining work of Matt Jenson’s life on so many dimensions: musically, spiritually and politically. His lyrics capture the turmoil and mess that is damaging the planet and its people, but his spin gives me hope and a reason to be optimistic for something to change for the better. I think that people may be inspired to be part of making some of the change happen after listening to and absorbing Matts thoughts.
After listening to the first few tunes, we realized that this album is reggae for the world. Matt has embraced the art form created years ago by people without a voice and brought it into the bigger, current arena. It’s so difficult to express reactions to music, especially the heartfelt creations of a dear friend. The risk is that our words come across as trite or just not sufficient to relay the emotions. All of what I’m writing is truly genuine, honest, and said with great respect for the incredibly powerful blend and new form Matt’s generated.
From a musical perspective, Matt’s voice and playing sounds great, the entire production is top shelf – tight. He’s gathered some incredible musicians in his fold and the positive chemistry really projects. This is inspirational music with deep impact. And, you just want to dance!!
Listening to Matt’s musical creation is a honor.
- Stephanie Ancona and Neal Chalek
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I LOVE THE ALBUM! This album is like traveling to a small European country, finding a small, high quality coffee shop and ordering a small specialty coffee or espresso. It doesn’t look like much but when you take a sip you realize that it’s POOOOOOOOTENT! There are so many things going on; chord inversions, melodies, nuances, anecdotes and a whole bunch of upfront AND subliminal conscious utterances….this is no one day listen, trust me on that. Well done squire!
- – Amlak Tafari, Yellow Wall Productions and bassist with Steel Pulse
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LOVE your CD. I’m not exaggerating when I say that for me, its the hippest, and all around best reggae album I’ve heard since the great Bob records. Incredible arranging, humor, intelligent social consciousness, singing, vibe. It’s a huge project that you took on, and you hit it out of the park!! Congrats, and it has my vote for reggae album of the decade. Not exaggerating.
- John Funkhouser
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Your presentations are not only professionally superb, but your message is thought provoking inspiring and in my opinion so right on. This last one so hits the head of the nail. How can we have a system based on perpetual expansion and growth on a finite planet is beyond me. Why the right wingers can’t open up to reality is beyond comprehension. Are we the next Atlantis?
I am so thankful to be on your email list. You are a breath of fresh air……clean air.
Thanks
- Malcolm Carnwath
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AMAZING ARTIST ALERT!!! Check out Matt Jenson’s amazing new reggae release. Great tunes, vibe and production on this. I can’t stop playing this CD…it is a pleasure to find an artist of this musical caliber who actively commits his talents towards a powerful social message of positivity, love and living well on the planet. please support this effort, go to his website and buy it! You will love it…here is a clip of how it came together.
- Thaddeus Hogarth (Guitarist on the album)
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Bless Matt! Just want to Ifficially “thank you” and salute you for completing the vision of the Dragonfly Taxi project! I am honored to have been invited to participate in the production of this truly instant classic! Your “song-crafting” skills are surely on par with your instrumental skill level. Your talents are complete and are evident in this recording! I am hopeful that the sheer quality of the contents of this recording will be embraced for what it is; superb! I feel as if I am purposefully hearing the works appear to my ears in deliberate high definition! The mix is lacking nothing! Give thanks for the quality time you invested in making sure that the work is of a “world class” caliber in all aspects of modern music production. On behalf of the 99%’s, I give thanks for the powerful lyrical outcry of the poor and marginally disenfranchised that you share in “Must be Free!” Really, it seems that in all of humankind’s struggle to exist, at some level, money becomes the apparent denominator of who/what is right or wrong, the winner or loser…Every other living thing on earth is free from living in that dynamic except human beings. Finally, give thanks for picking Man up for a ride in the Dragonfly Taxi!
- Tuff Lion (Guitarist on the album)
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Speaking from my heart, Matt’s essence is about DOING. How many people have I heard and seen talk about change in the last forty years?? How many have actually walked the walk, talked the talk, and sung the song?? Not ENOUGH, but to spend a moment in Matt’s company is to FEEL the heart and pulse of that distant “song” coming closer and CLOSER!
DRAGONFLY TAXI sings of groove and life with passion, and speaks of social injustice with vision… But MOSTLY … it
I N S P I R E S us to think, ponder, question, plan, act (as opposed to react), celebrate, breathe, look at what’s REALLY there and actually …
DO SOMETHING!!
Matt Jenson’s music and message is creatively provocative and evocative, and is an intensely profound wakeup call toward our need to MOVE forward and embrace what really matters! The production, compositions, lyrics, musicianship, concept, and individuality all dance with effortless excellence!
This is a project that is at a whole new level of passion, commitment to action, and ARTISTIC VISION!!
Well done, Mr. Jenson.
- Harry Skoler, Professor – Berklee College of Music
ONE LOVE: BBC radio documentary on Marleyanks
I’m very honored to be included on this fantastically produced retrospective on Bob Marley’s life, 30 years after his death. It’s a 25 minute piece by British poet Lemm Sessay including inspiring words by Babba Mall, Esther Anderson, Chris Salewicz, myself and others. Thanks to Ms. Dilly Barlow for reaching out to me. Check it!
The Rebel Tumbao Kickstarter campaign is a success!!
On December 1st, 2011 the REBEL TUMBAO KICKSTARTER CAMPAIGN came to a close and it was a resounding success. We far surpassed our goal!! I am truly humbled and incredibly thankful to all those who contributed, not just financially, but with their hearts and souls.
Check out this video from Rebel Tumbao kickstarter campaign HQ with reports from the California and France fronts!
“Like” Romney, Obama, Stein? Pre Election ‘12 Thoughts
OF TOP IMPORTANCE!
Here comes the presidential election and I’ve been paying attention to the whole spectacle a hell of a lot. I’ve been promising to write an essay explaining why I have “likes” for Obama, Jill Stein and ROMNEY on my FaceBook page but may not have time to complete it before the election. The reason why I “Facebook like” (which is something QUITE DIFFERENT than actually liking) all three of these candidates, is that I want to hear all the rhetoric, the propaganda, straight from the horses mouths. It is quite interesting and helps me immensely in knowing what my position is in this whole mess and helps me keep a somewhat objective view of it all. It also provides great material for writing new songs meant to strike at the heart of the dysfunctional electoral system which does everything it can to keep people thinking only within the two-party box.
My “Facebook like” explorations (as well as many other sources) also bring forward an understanding of the things that actually DO work in our society and certainly of the wealth of incredible healthy and positive thinking that’s going on out there!
I’ll cut to the chase and say: DO NOT, DO NOT VOTE FOR MITT ROMNEY and PAUL RYAN!!
VOTE FOR BARACK OBAMA, but at the same time do not hold any illusions about him and the entire Democratic party.
A Romney/Ryan win would revert us to, and bolster policies that will destroy the environment faster than we are now, cause further concentration of wealth and power, severely limit women’s rights, and quite likely drive us into another severe economic crash. Here is an article by Daniel Ellsberg (the guy, who in 1973 leaked the Pentagon Papers) that describes my view well: READ IT PLEASE.
If you have a bit more time on your hands read this book by Robert Reich, “Beyond Outrage.” Although he barely mentions the environmental crisis, he does a great job at explaining the meaning of the policies that the ‘regressive right’ want to put in place….and how they are incredibly dangerous.
CLIMATE CRISIS? Was not hurricane Sandy one hell of a wake up call to the US? I mean, look at the timing and location of the thing!!! And still, not a damn peep from B and O on climate change. Wow. If you want an antidote to that, join me at Bill Mckibben’s “Do the Math Tour” at the Orpheum in Boston on 11/15.
Meanwhile, here’s Romney on climate change.
One more time: DO NOT VOTE FOR ROMNEY. VOTE FOR BARACK OBAMA!!! And if he’s elected, you can breathe a sigh of relief for about 5 minutes only. After that know that the likelihood that he’ll do much to really strike at the rotten core of corporate domination of….EVERYTHING is quite low and we must put our efforts into bolstering mass movements such as Occupy (hopefully it’ll revive) to really put enough pressure on the system to make significant change.
