Review Of Live At The Azure Cafe

from www.muzikreviews.com – September 20, 2006 by Keith “MuzikMan” Hannaleck

Matthew Fogg and Nicole Hajj - Live at the Azure Cafe

Matthew Fogg & Nicole Hajj had a history before this album came together. They met and found a mutual admiration and respect for one thing, the art form of jazz.

It is unusual to release a debut album as a live recording, but the duo decided this was the best way to present their music at the time. Live At The Azure Café was released in 2005 and received with open arms from the jazz community.

The mixture of jazz standards and originals is as compelling as it is enriching for the casual listener or connoisseur. Music like this has a particular audience, one that can appreciate good music and the changes it can go through in a live setting. It is quite simple actually, if you have a love for good music, this CD will find a way into your heart.

Besides the beautiful tones and elegant vocal style produced by Nicole, Matthew provides fresh arrangements via his exemplary piano playing. They get plenty of assistance from their friends, too. Shawn Boissonneault (drums, percussion) is a long time friend and collaborator of Fogg’s, Brad Terry (clarinet), Andy Rice (acoustic & electric bass), and Lucas Cantor (guitar), round out the sound and form an ensemble that would rival any other band out playing jazz music today in a public venue. I would go far beyond that, actually, and say that this is several notches above any typical nightclub performance. This is a group of musicians right in the middle of their creative element.

A select group of people provided the necessary audience ambiance, and the live sound resonates clearly and crisply throughout this recording. There is not any other idiom that flourishes more in a live setting than jazz, I can attest to that fact. After seeing countless concerts over the years there are a few jazz shows that I cannot seem to forget, and I know why. Improvisation breathes new life into songs you have heard a hundred times before. Take “My Funny Valentine” for instance. You instantly recognize the tune, however, the musicianship puts a different spin on the standard and brings it right into the new millennium by giving due respect to the past and adding bits and pieces of today for a sound that is unforgettable. Fogg & Hajj have a special chemistry and the music that they make will give you the sense of being there, you can feel the creative energy and sparks flying. That is quite convincing since I was not there to actually witness the performance.

The Jazzman of Orr’s Island: Matt Fogg Steps Quietly Into The Limelight

from Coastal Journal – Issue 34: August 25, 2005 by Earl Swinson

HARPSWELL – Can you remember the day your life’s path changed?

Jazz pianist Matt Fogg of Orr’s Island can.

Fogg’s CD, Live at the Azure Cafe, recorded with vocalist Nicole Hajj and a quartet of backing musicians, has garnered such glowing reviews – Good Times magazine said it “could be the finest disc of any genre produced in Maine this year” – that one might assume the piano and/or jazz has been his passion for as long as he could remember.

Not so, according to the extremely affable and almost alarmingly modest 26-year old.

Fogg, who hails from Biddeford, turned to music because “I wasn’t very good at sports. I was awkward and overweight, and my parents got tired of seeing me in tears every week from football or Little League.

“But in the fourth grade, I saw my school’s fifth grade band concert, and I can remember the day very clearly. They were doing the theme from M*A*S*H, and they weren’t doing very good, but I thought it was the greatest thing I’d ever heard.”

Fogg said his parents were always very supportive (even of his less than stellar athletic career), so his father took him to a pawn shop, and Matt came home with a trumpet. He’s not sure why he chose a trumpet, but does recall that he wanted to play in the school band, and that limited his instrumental options. Matt joined the Middle School band but wasn’t exactly another Louis Armstrong.

“I was truly terrible at it,” he laughs, “but fortunately that was not a harbinger.”

He continued playing the trumpet into high school, eventually auditioning for a spot in the Southern Maine Music Festival. He didn’t make it, but as he was leaving the building, he heard the jazz auditions in another room.

“I poked my head in,” Matt recalls, “and they were having a great time, and I told myself, ‘I gotta get hip to this.’”

He noticed there was no trumpet players evident and knew that the piano was a preferred instrument for jazz ensembles, and he realized it might be time for a change.

Setting the trumpet aside

“We had a piano at home and I used to bang on it and even had about a summer’s worth of lessons in elementary school,” Matt says. “And the day after seeing the jazz auditions, I went to my hip band director (Terry White) and asked, ‘What do I have to do to get good enough to play piano for them?’” White led him to instructor Alex Johns of Portland and, at the age of 16, Matt Fogg began his piano playing career – and made the Music Festival the very next year.

Now – ten years later – Fogg’s technical ability on the ivories is nothing short of astonishing, as evidenced on the Azure Cafe recording. But for many listeners and reviewers, it is his talent as an arranger (JazzNow says, “He is an exceptionally gifted arranger, capable of making the oldest standards sound contemporary and fresh”) that sets Fogg apart. While admitting he seems to have an ear for harmony, Matt says his approach to music and arranging can be traced to a music history class at the University of New Hampshire, where he continued his musical education after graduating from Biddeford High School.

“The teacher was a real purist,” he says, “and he asked if we could name any good 20th century composers. A friend said, ‘John Williams’ (the legendary composer for Star Wars and many other Hollywood blockbusters), and the teacher just ridiculed him.

“After that,” Matt continues, “I decided I was not going to deny the music I like.

“I’m usually influenced by pop music,” he says, naming sources from 60′s Motown to Brian Wilson of the Beach Boys to the 80′s Toto to Ben Folds, who Fogg likens to a “modern Burt Bacharach.”

“I like to take a few pop hooks,” he says, “and incorporate them into my arrangements to make the songs more accessible.

“I also like to explore the way certain sonorities can actually elicit a physical response – anything to elevate the mood.”

It was at UNH that Fogg met fellow student Hajj of Andover, Mass. Hajj was a classical piano major and had no real experience singing jazz and she asked Fogg to back her for a school recording project.

Discovering a voice

“That’s when I realized she could sing,” Matt says, and he began doing her vocal arrangements. Before long they had compiled an extensive repertoire of songs, and by senior year they were performing together commercially – Fogg citing the Colony Hotel in Kennebunkport as their first steady gig.

The partnership has continued to this day, but both have also had to take on “day jobs” to supplement their jazz careers. For Fogg, that meant teaching, both as a private piano instructor and as a public school teacher. After student teaching in Old Town, he knew he wanted to teach at the high school level. He sent out the usual spate of applications but was invited for just one interview – at Morse High School. That turned out to be enough, as he was hired as the school’s choral director in 2001, a position he kept for three years.

“It was a great experience,” he recalls, “and I tried to do as many things with it as I could (including starting a Music Boosters program).”

But ultimately, it wasn’t enough, Matt realized.

“I was actually pretty depressed,” he admits, “and it was because for 25 years I had done what I was supposed to do. But having a job, and a credit card, and buying things – it wasn’t working for me.

“I knew I had to do what I loved, and that was playing music.”

But something else was happening at the same time.

While still at Morse, Fogg was hired as the Sacred Arts Coordinator at the Bath United Church of Christ on Congress Street. It was initially a part-time position, but his enthusiasm for spreading the joys of music just took over, and as he says, “There was so much stuff to do, that it became a full-time position.”

So he left Morse in 2004 to concentrate on his duties at the church, which included directing the choir, establishing a coffeehouse and fostering musical education at the church and in the community. Fogg’s work at the church led to his introduction to Taize, a monastic community in Southern France which was established to promote a reconciliation of Christian beliefs and practices; and he has incorporated that goal into his work in Bath, offering Taize services as part of his education program.

“One of the features of the service is sitting together and singing these very simple, almost chant-like songs,” he notes. “At the very least, you learn to relax for that one hour.”

But even with this new undertaking and his continuing performing career, there were still a few spare hours left in Matt’s weekly calendar, so he became a jazz instructor at Bowdoin College and a director of the Jewish Youth Chorus of Maine through the Jewish Community Center.

“I am a Christian,” Matt continues, “but even beyond that, I’m a student of Faith, and I find that I continue to learn from both churches.

“It all helps me in my dealing with people, and adds an element of spirituality in my approach to music. Music is the common denominator for so many amazing things.”

The church is also where Matt met Steve McKay of The Hermitage on Orr’s Island, and he credits McKay with helping him get where he is today.

A mentor builds confidence

“He’s been such a great influence on my attitude,” Fogg says. “He convinced me I was good enough to do this, to reach people.”

And it was that new-found attitude that culminated in the release of Live at the Azure Cafein January of this year. The CD was recorded October 28, 2004 at the Azure Cafe in Freeport and was produced by Fogg and mixed and mastered by Steve Drown of Portland.

“The CD was really several years in the making,” Fogg says, “and yet it was going to be a one-shot live recording, so I really wanted it to sound great.”

Backed by Shawn Boissonneault on drums, Lucas Cantor on guitar, Andy Rice on bass and with a guest appearance by clarinetist extraordinaire Brad Terry, Fogg got his wish.

This from JazzNow: “The CD is pure delight from start to finish, full of fresh musical surprises from the band and Hajj’s wonderful voice.

“But what truly puts it over the top are Fogg’s playing and arrangements.

“The music is highly accessible, rich without being overbearing with a modern sensibility that will appeal to a broad spectrum of listeners.

“This is a local group deserving of far wider recognition. Let’s hope they get it.

“If you live in the area or are traveling through New England, you should definitely check them out.”

And from Good Times: Live at the Azure Cafe is certainly a treat for contemporary jazz lovers – but is tuneful and accessible enough for music fans of any stripe to enjoy.

Azure Cafe proves these jazz musicians as talented as any performing today.

“It’s only a matter of time till this disc – and these musicians – break through on a national level.”

And what does Mr. Fogg think?

“It took me five months to really like it” he says.

The CD can be purchased at Magnolia in Bath, Bull Moose in Brunswick and elsewhere, at Borders in Portland, or through Fogg’s web sitewww.mattfogg.com (which also includes photos, a biography, reviews, and a calendar of his upcoming appearances).

What about the future?

While he will continue to perform with Hajj (as well as solo or with the quartet, depending on the venue), Fogg is currently working on a new CD project with new musicians, vocalist Cheri Gaudet-Grimmett and guitarist Scott Morgan. This time around, Matt is playing original tunes, and as he says, “My arranging has led me to being able to write melodies; but when it comes to lyrics, nothing happens. But Cheri is a great lyricist.”

He’s also expanding his instrumental inventory for the upcoming CD, playing a Hammond B3 organ, a Fender Rhodes piano, and “other vintage keyboards.”

Anything else?

He’ll keep playing live (he does his own booking), keep teaching; continue his church work, and anything else that piques his interest.

“I’ll keep doing what I do,” he says, “and taking it as it comes.

“It’s really all about taking what you’re given, and giving of yourself to others.”

Review of Live At The Azure Cafe

from www.JazzNow.com - August, 2005 by Linda Goshay

The dynamic duo of pianist Matt Fogg and vocalist Nicole Hajj can normally be heard performing in upscale clubs and restaurants in Maine and New Hampshire. For this live debut, recorded in October 2004 at the Azure Café in Freeport, Maine, the pair was augmented to a sextet consisting of themselves plus Brad Terry on clarinet, Lucas Cantor on guitar, Andy Rice on bass, and Shawn Boissonneault on drums.

The CD is pure delight from start to finish, full of fresh musical surprises from the band and Hajj’s wonderful voice. But what truly puts it over the top are Fogg’s playing and arrangements. He is an exceptionally gifted arranger, capable of making the oldest standards sound contemporary and fresh. The music is highly accessible, rich without being overbearing with a modern sensibility that will appeal to a broad spectrum of listeners.

This is a local group deserving of far wider recognition. Let’s hope they get it. If you live in the area or are traveling through New England, you should definitely check them out.

Review of Live At The Azure Cafe

from Good Times Magazine – Issue 18; June 9 – July 7, 2005 by Syl Nathan

Independently produced but as major league as any self-produced disc you’ll ever hear, Live at the Azure Cafe is certainly a treat for contemporary jazz lovers – but is tuneful and accessible enough for music fans of any stripe to enjoy.

Fogg, from Maine, performs constantly in the region with vocalist [Nicole] Hajj, and it’s not hard to see why. Fogg’s arranging skills are the equal of his fluid, expert piano style, and this disc of 11 tracks recorded during an intimate performance at Freeport’s Azure Cafe proves these are jazz musicians as talented as any performing today. It’s only a matter of time till this disc–and these musicians–break through on a national level.

At risk of laying on the hyperbole too thickly, we’ll tell you there isn’t a bad note on this entire disc. Hajj is a lilting, smooth vocalist with great range and style. Fogg’s playing is innovative without being overwhelming, proving himself a musician’s musician. And the band–bassist Andy Rice, guitarist Lucas Cantor, drummer Shawn Boissoneault and clarinetist Brad Terry–provide perfect backup for the talented duo.

The song selection here provides a perfect showcase for the duo’s skills. “Twisted,” made famous by Joni Mitchell, is given a fresh face thanks to a jazzy new arrangement. Chestnuts such as “Night and Day” and “Cry Me a River”–miracle of miracles–sound fresh and vibrant for the first time in years. Even “My Funny Valentine,” thanks to a moving, bravura performance by Fogg, rings from the speakers like a new composition. We can’t stress this point too strongly: This could be the finest disc of any genre produced in Maine this year. If your ears are mature enough to appreciate it, run, do not walk, to spend an evening Live at the Azure Cafe.