Mat Fieldes – Recording Artist & Touring Artist
Bassist
Mat Fieldes is a very active bass player on the New York freelance scene. Equally comfortable playing classical, jazz, rock, hip-hop, R&B, and Broadway genres, Mr. Fieldes is an incredibly versatile bassist who’s playing is always in demand. Since he started performing, he has collaborated with Joe Jackson, Ornette Coleman, John Cale, Peter Erskine, Jim Steinman, Sufjan Stevens, Steve Vai, Paquito D’Rivera, Kristjan Jarvi, Joe Williams, Arturo Sandaval, Toni Tennille, Kelli O’Hara, and many others. Fieldes was honored to perform with the acclaimed crossover hip-hop virtual band, the Gorillaz, 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 “In the Swing of Christmas,” which went gold, and with the Matt Herskowitz Trio, which was nominated for a 2009 Grammy. The Matt Herskowitz Trio also played a sold out concert to widespread acclaim at the Montreal Jazz Festival in 2008. Their debut album, “Forget Me Not,” was nominated for Quebec’s Felix Award for “Best Jazz Album.” They released their latest recording, “Jerusalem Trilogy,” at the 2010 Montreal Jazz Festival, which was nominated for a Canadian Juno Award in 2011.
Mr. Fieldes tours extensively as the solo bassist for Absolute Ensemble, an electro-acoustic crossover chamber orchestra, which performs at major venues worldwide. Recently, they have performed at the Sydney Opera House, Koln Philharmonie, London Barbican, Concertgebouw, Theatre des Champs Elysees, Megaron, and they have had residencies at the Bremen and Adelaide Festivals. In 2000, the ensemble won the coveted German Record Critic’s Award for its album “Mix.” They also received a Grammy nomination in the “Best Small Ensemble” category for the 2002 album, “Absolution,” on Enja Records.
Mat Fieldes’ 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 which was released on Sony Classical, and a tango project with Carel Kraayenhof.
As a soloist in 2001, Mr. Fieldes has performed Mark Anthony Turnage’s concerto, “Blood on the Floor,” at the Miller Theater in New York City. 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 is now the principal bass player for the acclaimed musical, “Matilda,” on Broadway.
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.
Come see Mat and the rest of the incredibly talented musicians that perform Rocktopia when they come to your town!