Matty Stecks & Persiflage | Night Cravings | January 1, 2021

“Steckler has tremendous concepts, sensational technique and a personal energy that can bathe you in light…” – Nippertown 

With recording studios venues closing down at record pace, many jazz musicians spent the last 12 months looking back on times when collaborating live was a regular occurrence. 

For saxophonist & composer Matt Steckler (aka Matty Stecks), this included an 11-year period on the fertile Brooklyn jazz scene where he’d routinely enlist artists such as Dan Weiss, Gerald Cleaver & Tyshawn Soreyat the area’s most beloved homegrown venues including Barbés, Cornelia Street Cafe, Shapeshifter Lab

The end of his time there was marked by a recording session at the legendary (and now defunct) Avatar Studioand the result – Night Cravings – is finally released in tribute.

Showcased in pristine sound, engineered and mixed by multi-Grammy-winner Katherine Miller and recently mastered by Pinch Recording engineer E. Scott Lindner, this iteration of Steckler’s Persiflage group features Curtis Hasselbring (tbn), Todd Neufeld (gtr), Dave Ambrosio (bs) and Satoshi Takeishi.

Musically, the musicians challenge the traditional conventions of a jazz quintet, whilst retaining the spirit of past trailblazing groups led by the likes of Ornette ColemanWayne ShorterKeith Jarrett & Sonny Sharrock

Steckler, an in-demand composer (with a Ph.D. in Composition from New York University and studies with Anthony Braxton, George Russell and Jim McNeely), says the album showcases the subtle interplays and details in both his writing and the ensemble itself. 

He has an eight-album discography including releases on Ropeadope, Innova and Cuneiform Records, but describes Night Cravings as his most sublimely documented work on record. 

Line up

Matt Steckler | saxophones & flute, compositions
Curtis Hasselbring | trombone
Todd Neufeld | guitar
Dave Ambrosio | bass
Satoshi Takeishi | drums & percussion

Track Listing

Night Cravings
Do The Betty Rubble
Agriturismo
What Seems Eternity in Salem
Bastard Rag
Scene Change
Unison
Ant Colony

Listen Here

Cuttings