Guitarist, producer Rick Matle has been performing for over 25 years, in 1986 he earned a Bachelors Degree in Music Performance from Oakland University .  His formative studies included jazz and classical guitar, jazz composing as well as performances on bass and percussion.   Influenced by rock and jazz artists, Matle maintains a creative, open minded approach to live performance and in the studio. Performing with vocalist Sheila Landis in duo and trio settings Matle performs on a seven-string hollow body guitar (tuned with a low A).  The influence of classic jazz guitarists such as Joe Pass, Kenny Burrell and Charlie Hunter are heard in his solid bass and simultaneous chordal accompaniment to Sheila's  interpretations of jazz standards, Latin and blues. The Detroit Music Awards recognized the songwriting team of Landis and Matle as "Outstanding Jazz Composers" in 1999.  Multi-instrumentalist Rick Matle has produced and engineered the last 8 Landis/Matle CD's.  Rick has maintained a professional recording studio for over 15 years and has been recording and producing for over 25 years. In his own Roseview Studio Rick has engineered tracks for Bill Heid, Joe Weaver, Alberta Adams, Johnnie Bassett,  The Millionaires, Perplexa, The Brothers Groove, Red Dye Nine, Steve Wood, Jody Carlson, Crankpeace, and Les Gammas (Belgium).  He has performed as a guitarist  on CD with Alberta Adams, Bill Heid, Tatsuo Sunaga (Japan), Greg Utech, Pat Cronley, Skip Greene, The Light Ensemble, Peter Tocco, Dale Grisa, Reggie Harrison and Guy Louis as well as producing his solo works "Ears Wide Shut" and "Windows of the World".

                            Review of "Ears Wide Shut" SheLan 1017

Rick Matle is an amazing guitarist whose solo release shines with fruitful experiments that showcase his many abilities, wide tastes and creative experiences. Over the years, with partner Sheila Landis on vocals, Matle has created an astounding number of bluesy jazz releases that present their special chemistry. With the trippier "Ears Wide Shut", Matle proves himself to be as diverse and free-thinking as his influences. He's also taken the opportunity to stretch his musical boundaries with instrumental sound snippets that bounce from hard psychedelia to reflective folkstrum-alongs. From these extremes he's crafted an organic and cohesive 47minutes of music that never fragments but remains connected and flowing. Along the way there are percussive side trips down jazz inspired, Latin flavored back alleys, delicate wisps of dream songs half forgotten, and raw, earthy ambient pieces that recall the ancient.  "The Dark Backwards" in fact, sounds like cave people jamming with clay pots and electric guitars. Matle does justice to the memory and innovations of so many artists in the relatively short history of electric guitar from Charlie Christian to Larry Coryell, to Robert Fripp, but perhaps recalls most of all the spirit and sense of adventure that defined Jimi Hendrix. The CD is conceptually designed with shorter, softer pieces giving way to increasingly longer, wilder experiments to the climax of the 13 minute title noise-opus "Ears Wide Shut". As harsh and unblinking as the cinematic work of the late Stanley Kubrick, this track also delights in the beauty of the unusual in a way Kubrick might have admired.

-Ralph Valdez WDET-FM National Public Radio in Detroit

Bluesy Jazz Trio: Mercy Mercy Mercy

Acoustic Jazz Trio: In a Mellow Tone

Sample from "Ears Wide Shut":   Spiral

Sound samples from "Windows of the World"

Click here:  Plug It In    Short Forest

Click here for Rick's video and audio samples from Myspace

Click here for even more of Rick's music

For Rick Matle's bio from AllMusicGuide click here

 Contact: 248 651-9477 

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Riding the Round Pool  (SheLan)  

Review by David Nathan

Songstress Sheila Landis and multi-instrumentalist Rick Matle are among the most enduring duos on the jazz scene. They have been going into the recording studio for more than 20 years, producing first-rate albums that are exceedingly musical and entertaining. Landis has a clear, strong, vibrant voice that snatches your attention right from the outset, as it does on "Life in Flamenco Green." Her band, in ensemble and as individual performers, get plenty of play during this session. There's haunting, exotic saxophone by Larry Nozero which is in line with this jungle rhythm piece. Various other percussive sounds abound, adding to the jungle atmosphere. After this long instrumental interlude, Landis comes back behind the rat-a-tatting of drums and the richness of the one-stringed berimbau. This is Landis and Matle at their uncommon best. Even standards are given unusual but legitimate readings. Landis opens "My Baby Just Cares for Me" riding in on percussion before Matle's electric piano comping provides the melodic basis for her scatting. Once again, a bandmember gets a chance to show off, and this time it's Dwight Adams on muted trumpet. Staying with a Brazilian motif, Landis does "Garota de Ipanema," aka "Girl From Ipanema," in Portuguese using some phrasing techniques to give this favorite a different reading. Throughout the session, a series of interesting sounds are created by Matle which are seamlessly integrated into Landis' vocalizing. Riding the Round Pool is this duo's 12th album together, and at some point, one would think they would run out of ideas. No so by a long shot. The material and performances on their latest is as fresh and as innovative as anything they have ever done. Highly recommended.

Sheila Landis/Rick Matle CD's are available direct through mail order.  Please contact Rick or Sheila for pricing and ordering info