Matthew Charles Heulitt

Guitarist/composer Matthew Charles Heulitt has been around for a while, gigging for over a decade in drumming master Zigaboo Modeliste's funk band. Heulitt is also a member of ex-Weather Report and Mahavishnu Orchestra drummer Narada Michael Walden's band; it is therefore no surprise that he displays an acute rhythmic sense in his playing. In fact, Heulitt's approach to the guitar stems from the way he hears other instruments; he adapts the agility of the piano and horns into his playing, and his tone and touch are influenced by the soulfulness of wind instruments.

His debut recording as leader, Room to Run (Self Produced, 2009), is an excellent showcase of his talents as a versatile guitarist of uncommon sensibility—exploring material from jazz to rock, folk and ambient— and as a composer of maturity and imagination. Not one to throw all his eggs in one basket, Heulitt also plays in Bay Area sensation, Moetar, whose joyous pop/prog-rock, avant-garde, improvisational gumbo—extraordinaire sounds like Yes meets Frank Zappa meets Chumbawumba. Its exhilarating debut recording, From These Small Seeds (Self Produced, 2010), makes the bold claim that the marriage between great pop and outstanding musicianship can both entertain and challenge the listener at the same time.

Matthew Charles Heulitt is clearly a musician with an open mind and one who refuses to be restricted by the limits of simplistic categorization. Possessing a deep knowledge and respect for the music of the past, Heulitt's focus is, nevertheless, very much forward-looking.