Matt Gagnon

Matt is a writer, poet, educator, and creative music enthusiast living in the Pioneer Valley of Massachusetts with his wife and daughter. He is the author of the book of poems, Song of the Systole (Spuyten Duyvil, 2017). While a long time listener of jazz, his interest in creative and improvised music began around 2007 when he attended a Matthew Shipp solo concert at the Northampton Center For the Arts, and later, a duo with Evan Parker and Ned Rothenberg at the now retired Magic Triangle Jazz Series at UMass Amherst. These shows really opened up his ears to new sounds and possibilities of making music. He is regularly in attendance at concerts put on by Pioneer Valley Jazz Shares in Western Massachusetts, and the monthly music series, Improvisations Now in Hartford, curated by Joe Morris.