One of his generation's most highly regarded drummers and composers, Matt Slocum recently released his first recording as leader, Portraits with Gerald Clayton, Massimo Biocalti, Walter Smith III, Jaleel Shaw, and Dayna Stephens. The St. Paul native has counted among his mentors Phil Hey, Peter Erskine, Shelly Berg, Alan Pasqua and Joe LaBarbera and has a long list of legends and contemporaries who serve as sources of inspiration. But he started out on piano, and now he often finds himself sitting again at the piano as he works out compositions. JazzINK caught up with Matt prior to his "homecoming" gig at the Artists Quarter in St. Paul.

JI. What were your earliest musical influences?

MS. My parents are both very hip and they would take us to hear concerts around the [Twin Cities/western Wisconsin] area. No one in the family was a professional musician, but my dad is an artist who makes stained glass mirrors and windows. Sometimes we'd tag along to his art fairs and get to hear music there. There were also instruments around the house for us to play and it was a nice creative environment.

You started on piano but switched to drums—what brought about the change? Why drums?

I wanted to play the drums right away, but to join the percussion program at school we had to first study piano for two years. Plus my parents wanted each of us to learn to play the piano. My first memory of hearing the drums was actually a marching band--maybe it was a parade or July 4th. The initial attraction was the rhythmic energy and drive of the percussion instruments.

How did you come to study with [Twin Cities drummer] Phil Hey? How did Phil influence your direction as a jazz drummer?

By the time I was in high school [in New Richmond, WI], I was starting to get a little more serious about the instrument and had developed an interest in learning to play jazz. Although there was a good music program at the school, New Richmond isn't exactly a jazz mecca. My mom is a Macalester alumna, so she called the college [in St. Paul] to ask about a drum set instructor. Phil was teaching there at the time.

Phil is a great person and a serious musician. Before we had any lessons he made me a list of a couple dozen recordings to check out. Because I didn't have much experience playing jazz, he really helped me out with building a foundation, learning various styles, reading music, working out of Marv Dahlgren's "Four Way Coordination" and the Philly Joe Jones brush method book. He stressed the importance of listening to a lot of music. My mom and dad would also take me to hear him play with different groups at the old Dakota and Artists' Quarter. I really like Phil's musical aesthetic. He knows the history of the music and can really swing and play straight-ahead, but he is also very open-minded and plays great in more modern and open formats. He is always checking out new records and is constantly growing as an artist. It was a treat to get to hear and study with such a first rate musician.

Matt Slocom (Photo © Tim Scudder)

How was your music and career shaped by your studies at USC [Thornton School of Music in Los Angeles]?

At USC my teachers were Peter Erskine, Alan Pasqua, John Clayton, and Shelly Berg. It was a good environment to work things out musically with other like-minded students. The Thelonious Monk Institute of Jazz was also on campus at the time, so we got to play with those musicians and check out master classes when artists like Terence Blanchard, Kenny Barron, Dave Holland or Lewis Nash, who would come into town. All of the musicians on the new record except Jaleel Shaw were either at USC or the Monk Institute during the time I studied there.

It was a supportive musical community and after graduating, the USC faculty and alumni really helped get us out there playing. Shelly would call for gigs and recording sessions and for several years one of the main gigs that I did was touring with my classmate, vocalist Sara Gazarek. And when we'd record her CDs, John Clayton was there producing. So the vibe was kind of like a family.  Peter Erskine and Alan Pasqua, in particular, both introduced me to a lot of amazing music and encouraged me to work towards developing a personal voice on the instrument and as a composer.

What drummers do you find as your main sources of inspiration today, and why?

• Roy Haynes--he is in a three-way tie with Max Roach and Elvin Jones as my all-time favorite.
• Jack DeJohnette-- a completely personal musical painter with a direct link to the creative force.
• Bill Stewart-- Bill has been a major influence on my playing and composing. I love his sound and personal vocabulary.
• Matt Wilson-- a melodic, supportive and creative musician. A great bandleader. Also very serious about getting a good sound from the instrument.
• Lewis Nash-- a complete musician. I love listening to Lewis Nash. Great time, musical ideas, a master of the brushes, and so clean! Perfect execution of his ideas every time. Lewis is as creative on a straight-ahead gig as the great Andrew Cyrille when playing outside.
• Eric Harland--super bad.
• Mark Ferber--A very special young drummer.
• Kendrick Scott--I like his ideal, rooted in the tradition yet moving forward. Comfortable in more modern settings.
• Marcus Gilmore--Marcus can take any meter or combination of meters and make it flow and groove naturally.
• Billy Drummond--check out his record Dubai with Peter Washington, Chris Potter and Walt Weiskopf immediately!
• Also Al Foster, Paul Motian, Billy Hart, Brian Blade, Adam Cruz, Jim Keltner, Ringo, John Bonham, Steve Gadd, Jorge Rossy, Clarence Penn, Nate Smith, Kenny Washington.And of course Max, Elvin, Tony, Philly Joe, Billy Higgins, and Art Blakey-- constant sources of inspiration! And my teachers, Phil Hey, Peter Erskine, Joe LaBarbera.

As a drummer, do you approach composing differently than would a horn player or pianist? Do you compose at the piano?

I compose at the piano. I was fortunate to be able to study harmony and composition with some great teachers at USC. I think in terms of writing music in a general sense, not "drummer tunes" or "piano tunes," etc. There's no way around the fact that one's primary instrument influences the compositional process and, in jazz, the individual's personality comes out both in improvisation (composition in real time) and the writing process.

The composer's music can also transcend his primary instrument. For instance, I don't hear "bass music" when I listen to Dave Holland compositions or "trumpet tunes" when I listen to Tom Harrell's music. This is what I am working towards. I don't think like a drummer while composing, although the constant involvement with the instrument will inevitably have some effect on the process. I generally write melodies first because I feel that the melody should be able to stand alone. When listeners hear one of my compositions, I don't want them to be able to detect that it was written by a drummer. Music is music and I like dealing with it on a broader level of painting and shading with the color relationships of melody, harmony and rhythm.

Your received a Meet the Composers Grant to help support “Portraits.” What was your plan for the recording? Did you have your supporting musicians in mind from the beginning?

The Meet the Composer Foundation grant sponsored a performance and discussion of some of the music on the record. The recording came together rather spontaneously. At the time, I had been doing a lot of writing and playing frequently with Walter, Gerald, Massimo, Jaleel and Dayna. I mentioned something to Massimo about possibly recording the music and he reminded me about it a few months later. We decided it was time to go into the studio. Fortunately everyone's schedules aligned.

Portraits was recorded as a way to document this music and to provide a snapshot of this group of special musicians and friends. I consider the chemistry of a group to be of at least equal importance as the level of each musician's playing. The music was written with these gentlemen and their unique musical personalities in mind. I hope that it moves the listeners on some level and has a personal meaning for them.

For more information about Matt Slocum, visit www.mattslocumjazz.com; Portraits is available from www.cdbaby.com/cd/mattslocum, Amazon and iTunes.

For information about Matt Slocum's CD release at the Artists Quarter in St, Paul, visit http://www.jazzpolice.com/content/view/8851/115/. For a review of Portraits visit : http://www.jazzpolice.com/content/view/8852/79/.