Matt Catingub

A talented saxophonist who can play most instruments and can arrange in a variety of styles, Matt Catingub has thus far not received all of the recognition he deserves for his abilities. The son of singer Mavis Rivers, Catingub was well-trained as a musician. He started playing piano when he was 7, clarinet at 11, studied arranging and composing when he was 16 and switched to alto at age 17. Catingub not only played alto with the California All-Star High School Jazz Band at the Monterey Jazz Festival, but he composed a suite that they performed. When he was 17 he first played with Louie Bellson, an association that has continued up until the present. He played with Kenny Burrell in 1980 and formed his own big band. Catingub ran the band that backed his mother and toured the U.S. with the Toshiko Akiyoshi/Lew Tabackin big band. He led four big band albums for Sea Breeze (including programming synthesizers to simulate a full orchestra on half of Hi-Tech Big Band), a set for Reference and a George Gershwin tribute for Concord (1997). In addition, Matt Catingub has been a freelance arranger, often for middle-of-the-road pop singers (including Jack Jones and Toni Tennille). Catingub's sense of humor (plus his commitment to solid swing) can be heard on such numbers as "I'm Getting Cement All Over Ewe," "Blues And The Abscessed Tooth" and "Sciatica Stomp." ~ Scott Yanow