MATTHEW SPERRY MEMORIAL CONCERT
Saturday, November 1, 8pm
Fancyland
4212 Santa Monica Blvd. LA 90029
323.661.9464
$5-$10 sliding scale
All proceeds from the concert will go to Matthew Sperry’s family, and will feature some of Los Angeles’ finest improvising musicians.
The concert is dedicated to the memory of bassist / father / husband/ Matthew Sperry, who touched so many with his love, honesty, humor, and music. Matthew died when he was hit by a car while bicycling to work the morning of June 5, 2003. In addition to being a wonderful father to two-year old Lila and husband to Stacia, Matthew was an incredible bass player, a rising star who performed with Anthony Braxton, David Byrne, Tom Waits, and many others.
Musicians performing November 1:
featuring:
Dan Clucas
Harris Eisenstadt
Jesse Gilbert
Vinny Golia
Chris Heenan
Scott Rosenberg
John Shiurba
Andre Vida
Cory Wright
Contacts:
Harris Eisenstadt
Jesse Gilbert
There will be no advance ticket purchases – door sales only.
I attended the Saturday (11/01/03) memorial concert for Matthew in LA. It was a really special event, all the sets were very moving, including the pre-recorded Matthew Sperry solo piece that was played to start off the evening. I’m not a musician but I have experienced enough improvised music to be pretty critical, and I was really impressed with all the sets on Saturday. I felt a range of feelings from fun and wacky to beautifully soothing. Great synergy in the ensembles. The best and only contrabass flute solo I’ve ever heard (by Vinny). I hope someone more qualified than myself will post a more detailed analysis of the evening. I want to extend my thanks to everyone who attended, the organizers, and all the performers for remembering and honoring Matthew. It touches my heart.
An aside: on the drive home to San Diego, I listened to a Bill Frissell tape that Matthew gave to me way backwhen? I can’t remember the last time I listened to it, probably years ago. Well when I got home and searched my LA Weekly to read the piece about the Saturday event, I was curiously surprised to find that Bill Frissell had a gig introduction directly above the piece on Matthew’s Memorial show. I’m not sure what to make of this, but I’m sure Matthew would have been pleased to share the page with him. You can read both pieces at http://www.laweekly.com/calendar/picks/index.php#concerts.
Miss you brother, every day.