Matthew McDonald

Trombonist Matthew McDonald has performed at numerous jazz festivals and venues around the world, including North Sea, Montreux, Umbria, Spoleto, Montreal, and Ottawa Jazz Festivals, as well as, The Blue Note, Birdland, The Village Vanguard, Carnegie Hall, The Jazz Standard, and many others. 

     Since moving to New York in 2003, he has performed with countless ensembles including the Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra under the direction of Wynton Marsalis, Steven Van Zandt's "Disciples of Soul", Shaggy, Michael Buble', The Max Weinberg Big Band, Mambo Legends Orchestra, Danny Seraphine’s “CTA”, The Temptations, The Four Tops, Zafem, Gregorio Uribe, The Filmharmonic Brass, The Vanguard Jazz Orchestra, The Christian McBride Big Band, and the Jimmy Heath Big Band, among others. 

     In 2007, he was invited to travel to Manizales and Medellin, Colombia to perform as one of the “Promising Artists of the 21st Century.”  Starting January of 2014, Matt began curating a jazz series in Harlem at “Silvana”, featuring some of the most versatile musicians in New York City.

     Matt received his Bachelors of Music in Jazz Trombone from DePaul University in Chicago, his Masters of Music from the Manhattan School of Music, as well as receiving his Artist Diploma from the Juilliard School, studying Trombone with Wycliffe Gordon.  He maintains a busy schedule as a leader and sideman for many of New York’s finest ensembles.

Matt McDonald - New York Jazz Trombonist (mattmcdonaldmusic.com)

Matt McDonald - The Long Wait

If you’re a bandleader on the scene hearing trombone for your ensemble, the name Matthew McDonald is surely in your phone, and at the top of your list. The Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra under the direction of Wynton Marsalis, The Christian McBride Big Band, the Ted Nash Big Band, the Roy Hargrove Big Band, the Max Weinberg Big Band, The Vanguard Jazz Orchestra, The Manuel Valera Big Band, The Dan Pugach Big Band, and many others, have all called upon a man who has great command of, and artistry and expression with, about nine feet of tubing, a slide and a bell, aka the trombone. His versatility, creative open mindedness, and his other great skill, composing, is displayed in abundance on his new album, and his first for Brooklyn Jazz Underground Records, The Long Wait. The album is a musical expression of living in a complicated, fast-paced, but always interesting metropolis that is New York City. The album’s title also expresses the fact that it was written during the long period of isolation we collectively experienced in 2020. The Long Wait is a tour-de-force, with a depth and breadth of styles, feels, passion, joy and virtuosity. All of the qualities that have McDonald’s phone ringing off the hook are here, and then some . . . "Liebish" is a tribute to the incredible depth of the scene in New York, where legends roam, and rising stars often cross paths with some of the greatest musical minds of the art form. In this case, the great David Liebman, “who opened my world up to endless musical possibilities,” said McDonald. "Night Scenes" and "Afterwards" are musical reflections of, “how overcoming mental and physical struggles have helped me become more confident and sure-footed in life,” stated McDonald. "Dealin'', "In the Heights", and "A Wee Bit of Fun," all attempt to paint a picture of day to day life in a city which seems to be both frenetic and chaotic, but also hopeful and inspiring. McDonald comments on two compositions near and dear to his heart, “’A Chance Encounter’" and ‘Feng-I’, dedicated to my wife Emily (Feng-I), provide a softer side to the album and express the wonderful encounters that are possible throughout this city and in life. Finally, "Going Back, Moving Forward," is a rumination that sometimes one has to deal with the past before we are allowed to move forward to the next experience. McDonald elaborated, that, “it has been a great pleasure for me to create this music, and I sincerely hope that you enjoy it now that the long wait is over.