Greta Matassa

In the Pacific Northwest, where she built her career, Greta Matassa wins wide acclaim; 7 times, the readers of Earshot, the Seattle jazz magazine, have voted her the best jazz vocalist in the Northwest. She was inducted into the Seattle Jazz Hall of Fame in 2014. Jim Wilke, the Seattle jazz maven and host of the syndicated "Jazz After Hours" radio program, praises her versatility. "She has a fearlessness in approaching material,” Wilke says, "that makes her like an instrumentalist in a jam session.” Bassist and producer John Clayton says “One of the best jazz singers we have to boast about these days.”

Her 40 year career has been a whirlwind of exciting opportunities and experiences. Over the last 20 years she became established as one of the greatest jazz singers of her time. Working with top jazz musicians in Los Angeles, Chicago and New York. In 2016 She was featured with bassist John Clayton’s group in a centennial tribute to Ella Fitzgerald. She has recorded 11 CD’S and travels extensively teaching and performing.

Her decision to start teaching was probably her greatest contribution to the future of the genre she loves so much. For the last 20 years Greta has become one of the most unique and respected educators in the field today. Offering individual lessons and mentorships as well as establishing loyal student bases from Seattle to Japan, From Alaska to Kauai, from Chicago to New York.

Matassa's fascination with songs began early. Her family moved frequently when she was small, but by the time she entered middle school, they had settled on Bainbridge Island in Puget Sound, opposite Seattle. This is what she said about her childhood:

"Growing up, my parents were big jazz fans and we had a lot of jazz music around the house. They were happy to encourage my interest in music. My father is a visual artist, and we used to spend hours talking about abstract expressionism and how that related to jazz.”

Although she took only a few voice lessons, she found more to be gained from directly working with the recordings of classic jazz singers from Ella to Ray Charles. “My method for learning to sing was quite simple and straight-forward, I sang along with the great jazz singers I loved so much and let them teach me everything I could learn ! I still do this every day.”

Greta began singing professionally while still in high school and as more opportunities developed, she quit school to go on the road. All through the 1980’s Greta sang in a wide variety of musical groups. From top-40 dance bands to an all original heavy metal group, she continued to explore her instrument. She was soon a featured guest artist on a cavalcade of Seattle area jazz musicians groups. At the same time she became, through her extreme versatility, a wildly successful session singer, doing voice-over for many of the areas most recognizable radio and television jingles.

She became even more diverse when in 1989 the Pacific Northwest Ballet asked Matassa to step in for Ernestine Anderson in a program based on the music of Kurt Weill. The show, in the Seattle Opera House, gave her wider exposure.

"The Weill show ran every two years for about ten years. It put me into the legit field and, eventually, led to Spectrum Dance Theater, which then got a grant and asked me to do a program with them. We debuted it in 1998. It was called ‘Voices of Jazz Danced,' a tribute to fifteen classic jazz singers.

Greta married and had two daughters in the early 90’s. She also released the first of her 11 records to date. Throughout the next decade Greta experimented with assembling a permanent group. After various combinations of some the northwests greatest jazz musicians she finally established her Quartet featuring Darin Clendenin piano, Clipper Anderson (whom she later married after divorce) and Mark Ivester drums. Later adding the amazing Saxophonist Alexey Nikolaev.

Now began a relationship with one of the top jazz clubs in the country. Tula’s restaurant and jazz club in the Belltown area of Seattle became a mainstay in the jazz scene. Greta was, and continues to be featured monthly.

For the next 20 years she began touring the US and abroad, establishing teaching bases and performing at jazz clubs, concerts and festivals.

Although it has been asked why she is not more internationally famous, She responds that she as made conscious musical choices that do not always guarantee fame and has always been more interested in the integrity of her music.

To that end she has become, over recent years, a member of a group of national and international jazz singers that actively share their resources with each other. Mostly women, these strategically placed singers (NYC, LA, Bay Area, Chicago, Kauai, Japan, Vancouver BC, Portland) help each other to travel, by sharing gigs, students and fan- bases on an entirely new organic level.

With the release of her newest CD “Portrait” on Origin Records, Greta is getting the kind of attention internationally that re-establishes her as one of the greatest living jazz singers. Source: Doug Ramsey

Awards

7 time winner of "Best jazz vocalist in the Northwest" by Earshot Jazz, Earshot Jazz Hall of Fame