For those unaware, Matt Panayides is a highly acclaimed guitarist and composer based in the New York City area. Influenced by guitar legends such as Jim Hall, John Scofield, Wes Montgomery, Jimi Hendrix, and Joni Mitchell, he has crafted a unique sound that has earned him worldwide recognition.

Known for his distinctive playing style and improvisational skills, Panayides frequently leads his own groups and collaborates with other musicians both in New York City and abroad.

Currently, Panayides is focused on applying concepts developed on his previous three albums to the solo and trio jazz guitar format. He is delving into the American songbook repertoire and compositions by great jazz composers, sculpting arrangements that showcase the natural acoustic sound of his hollow body guitar made by Victor Baker.

Indeed, this actually marks a departure from his earlier, more electric and effects-driven sound and original compositions.

Adding to his impressive discography, Panayides has just released a new trio album this September entitled With Eyes Closed. The album features Steve LaSpina on bass and Anthony Pinciotti on drums, and focuses on the music of the masters and has been released on the Pacific Coast Jazz label.

His previous recordings on Pacific Coast Jazz have highlighted his original compositions: Field Theory (2021), featuring Matt Vashlishan (EWI), Rich Perry (tenor sax), Robert Sabin (bass), and Mark Ferber (drums); Conduits (2015), featuring Rich Perry (tenor sax), Mark Ferber (drums), and Thompson Kneeland (bass); and Tapestries of Song (2011), featuring Rich Perry (tenor sax), Steve LaSpina (bass), and Dan Weiss (drums).

1. Simone (4:51) - Frank Foster
2. Straight Up and Down (3:40) - Chick Corea
3. I Fall in Love too Easily (7:06) - Jules Stein
4. Hindsight (5:06) - Cedar Walton
5. Nefertiti (5:09) Wayne Shorter
6. Serenity (4:42) - Joe Henderson
7. Ju-Ju (6:50) - Wayne Shorter
8. Mode for Joe (5:07) - Cedar Walton
9. Moon River (4:33) - Henry Mancini
10. The Moontrane (5:22) - Woody Shaw
11. Darn That Dream (5:22) -Jimmy Van Huesen

This musically resplendent new recording opens on the free flowing vibe found within Frank Foster’s classic modal blues waltz, Simone and the frenetically sculpted Chick Corea cut Straight Up and Down and then proceeds to being us the languishing I Fall in Love too Easily, the finger-snapping foot-tapper Hindsight and then comes Wayne Shorter’s fluidly alluring Nefertiti.

Along next is the playfully flirtatious Joe Henderson cut Serenity and the perky flow of another Shorter track, Ju-Ju and they are in turn backed by the pulsatingly cultured Mode for Joe, the laid back, lazy river ambiance of the classic Henry Mancini track Moon River, the album rounding out on trumpeter Woody Shaw’s uproariously joyful, upright bass-fed The Moontrane, closing on the luxuriant 1939 composed track, Darn That Dream.

www.mattpanayides.com