A professional jazz musician for over sixty years, Matt plays flugelhorn, trumpet, flute, soprano sax and vibes. He performed for many years with Grammy-winning baritone saxophonist Nick Brignola and studied composition with Edgar Curtis, Director of the Albany Symphony Orchestra.

Currently performing in several big bands, Matt led Rio JAZZ, a Brazilian jazz concert sextet from 1988 to 2018. In concert, Matt plays Brazilian sambas and bossa novas, jazz classics, and original compositions.

A 50+-year lifetime member of American Federation of Musicians, Matt is a retired professor of computer information systems and was academic dean at Dutchess Community College in Poughkeepsie, New York. For many years, Matt accomplished his goal of learning to play a new instrument every year to improve his composing and arranging abilities. Not only a multi-instrumentalist, he is in demand as a composer, arranger, sound engineer and recording sideman.

He is featured on eleven CDs released since 2006. In 2013, Matt orchestrated and performed four of his Brazilian jazz compositions in concert with the Northern Dutchess Symphony Orchestra. He currently directs and writes for the 14-piece Smithfield Chamber Orchestra.

► "Flugelhorn master!" - Poughkeepsie Journal

► "Your playing certainly is top notch." - Russ Davis, XM Radio Channel 72 (Beyond Jazz)

► "Matt's execution is virtually flawless; he smokes on every tune." - WWW.VINILEMANIA.NET

► "Remarkable technique on trumpet & flugelhorn" - Schenectady Gazette

► "Standout solo trumpet" - Troy Times Record

► Matt's CD, "Brazilian Wish", features nine of his original Brazilian jazz compositions and an all-star lineup produced by Jon Werking. World-best musicians include Romero Lubambo, Warren Bernhardt, Mark Egan, Joel Rosenblatt, Jon Werking, Tomas Martin Lopez, Dave Finck, Jeff Siegel, Jeff Ciampa, Dan Levine, Barry Danelian and David Mann. It's Rio JAZZ in a box!

► "Brazilian Wish showcases thirteen of the hippest Brazilian jazz performers in the world. Silky smooth grooves are expertly crafted and easy on the soul. This disc never takes its eyes off its roots, and is a hybrid of Brazilian sonic structures under sleek, melodic American style jazz." - J. Spica, Chronogram and WVKR Radio

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Contact Info
Location: Dutchess County, NY
Website: www.mattfinley.com
Email

Videos

Saturday May 31 3:00 pm to 4:15 pm	5th Annual Spring Pops Concert with Smithfield Chamber Orchestra, Matt Finley Instrumental. Classical, Pop, and Jazz	The Smithfield Church 656 Smithfield Valley Road Amenia, NY   See Map
	The Smithfield Chamber Orchestra directed by Matt Finley Saturday, May 31, 2025 at 3 pm The Smithfield Church, Amenia, NY This popular group returns to play an eclectic mix of classical, jazz and pop music by Duke Ellington, Leroy Anderson, Oliver Nelson, Anthony Newley, Gustav Holst, Sergei Prokofiev, Roberto Menescal, Felix Mendelssohn and others. Walter Barrett - trombone Lynnette Benner - flute Michelle Demko - flute Matt Finley - trumpet, arranger, director Matt Garrity - drums Charles Gray - clarinet, sax Larry Ham - piano Piotr Kargul - viola Milt Lee - conductor, trumpet Rob Murphy - violin Lou Pappas - double bass Kay Sutka, clarinet Jean Vilkelis - cello Selections include Rio, Tradition (Fiddler on the Roof), Caravan, March from The Love for Three Oranges, Buglers Holiday, Second Suite in F (Holst), Pure Imagination (Willy Wonka), and I Hope in Time a Change Will Come. Sponsored by the Bang Family Concert Series. $20 donation suggested. For more info:

CDs by Matt Finley

		Brazilian Wish 2006 Jazz, Latin, and Contemporary Exciting CD by jazz composer and flugelhorn artist Matt Finley featuring Matt's original Brazilian jazz sambas and bossa novas with world-best studio musicians. It's Rio JAZZ in a box!

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