The Committee Led by Mat Fieldes

Mat Fieldes is a very active bass player on the New York freelance scene today. Equally comfortable in Classical, Jazz, Rock, Hip-hop, R&B and Broadway genres, Mr. Fieldes has collaborated with such luminaries as Joe Jackson, John Cale, Ornette Coleman, Jim Steinman, Sufjan Stevens, Steve Vai, Peter Erskine, Paquito D’Rivera, Kristjan Jarvi, Joe Williams, Arturo Sandaval, Toni Tennille, and Kelli O’Hara among others. Mr Fieldes was honored to perform with the acclaimed crossover hip-hop virtual band the Gorillaz, live at the Apollo theater, and hip-hop legend Jay-Z at  Radio City Music Hall in the spring of 2006. In 2001, he performed on Joe Jackson’s album, Symphony, which won a Grammy Award for “Best Pop Instrumental.”

In 2007 he played on Barry Manilow’s Gold album “In the Swing of Christmas” with the Matt Herskowitz Trio, which was nominated for a Grammy in 2009. The Matt Herskowitz Trio also played a sold out concert to widespread acclaim at the Montreal Jazz Festival in 2008. Their debut CD ‘Forget Me Not’ was nominated for a Felix Award in Quebec for “Best Jazz Album’. They released their latest recording ‘Jerusalem Trilogy’ at the 2010 Montreal Jazz Festival. It was nominated for a Canadian Juno Award in 2011.

Mr. Fieldes tours extensively as solo bassist for Absolute Ensemble, an electro-acoustic crossover chamber orchestra, which performs at major venues worldwide. Recent appearances include the Sydney Opera House, Koln Philharmonie, London Barbican, Concertgebouw, Theatre des Champs Elysees, Megaron, and residencies at Bremen and Adelaide Festivals. In 2000, the ensemble won the coveted German Record Critic’s Award for its album Mix. The ensemble received a Grammy nomination in the ‘Best Small Ensemble’ category for its album Absolution (2002, Enja Records). Recent collaborations include recordings and touring with the late Joe Zawinul, a Frank Zappa tribute featuring Mike Keneally and Napoleon Murphy Brock, ‘Bach Re-Invented’ featuring Simone Dinnerstein (released on SONY Classical) and a Tango project with Carel Kraayenhof.

As a soloist, Mr. Fieldes has performed Mark Anthony Turnage’s concerto Blood on the Floor, at Miller Theater, New York City, in 2001. In 2004, he performed the same concerto with the Adelaide Symphony Orchestra. Also that year, he premiered Gene Pritsker’s concerto for electric and acoustic bass, Lost Illusions, with the Adelaide Symphony Orchestra, in front of 30,000 people. Most recently he was a member of a featured rock trio for performances of Bernstein’s ‘Mass’ in Adelaide, and the Royal Albert Hall for the BBC proms.

He has performed on many Broadway shows including “Mamma Mia”, “The Book of Mormon”, “Next to Normal”, “Billy Elliot”, “South Pacific”, “Mary Poppins”, “Kiss Me Kate”, “The Full Monty”, “Legally Blonde” and “Saturday Night Fever”. He was the Principal bass player of the acclaimed musical ‘Matilda’ on Broadway from 2013-17 and received his 4th Grammy nomination for the cast recording.

As an Orchestral and Chamber musician he has played with the New Zealand Symphony, New Jersey Symphony, Auckland Philharmonia, Brooklyn Philharmonic, Key West Symphony (Principal), Long Island Philharmonic, Westchester Symphony, Moscow Chamber Orchestra, New Zealand String Quartet, New Zealand Trio, Continuum, Bronx Arts Ensemble and has recently appeared in major festivals in Mexico City, Bremen, El Paso, Adelaide and Montpellier.

Mr. Fieldes was born in Hastings, New Zealand. He earned his Master’s degree from The Juilliard School where he studied with Eugene Levinson, Principal Bass of the New York Philharmonic.

Mat will be joined on this date by Ron Samsom Drums, Roger Manins sax, and Dixon Nacey guitar

Door charge
Members and Students with ID $5.00
Non Members $15.00