Greta Matassa is a long time fixture on the local music scene and possesses an enduring adoration from jazz fans throughout the Northwest. This admiration is well-deserved. She approaches the music with a musician’s sensibility and a joyful fervor and energy that exhilarate her audiences again and again. Greta is the proverbial “whole package”: Her improvisational chops are spot-on, and she jumps into her solos with a take-no-prisoners style that is nothing short of thrilling. She has an authentic sensitivity to the lyric, and her repertoire of songs is vast, encompassing all the standards as well as multitudes of unique and lesser- known compositions. Throughout the evolution of her craft, Matassa has left no stone unturned. Through painstaking listening, study and hard-worked Greta culled her inspiration and knowledge from the masters of the jazz genre. Now it can easily be said that she is among them.
Greta’s new CD I Wanna Be Loved is her first release on the Resonance record label. I Wanna Be Loved features arrangements by the esteemed pianist Tamir Hendelman, who also plays on the recording. The CD includes songs written by a who’s who list of composers the likes of Stevie Wonder, Herbie Hancock, Cy Coleman, Alan and Marilyn Bergman, Al Jarreau and Henry Mancini. The CD features string arrangements by Kuno Schmidt and also performances by many prominent Los Angeles musicians as well as two of Greta’s longtime bandmates, Darin Clendenin on piano and Clipper Anderson on bass. I Wanna Be Loved debuted at #19 on national jazz charts for radio airplay. The release of this exciting new CD is yet another pinnacle on Greta’s long and distinguished career
The eastside release party for I Wanna Be Loved will be held at Bake’s Place at Providence Point, where Matassa has been a featured artist for many years. Reservations can be made by calling 425-391-3335 or by sending an email to [email protected]. For more information, please visit www.bakesplace.org.