Matt Greenwood: Daybreak
Matt Greenwood

Matt Greenwood's a man of many talents. The pieces on his sophomore album show him to be a composer of considerable merit, and his skills as a guitarist are formidable too. Upon its early 2023 release, his debut set Atlas impressed, but Daybreak suggests significant advances have occurred since then and an overall maturing in his approach. A few things set Greenwood apart from his contemporaries, a willingness to allow his music to breathe, for starters. Resisting the urge to fill every space, he opts for an understated attack more typically shown by the seasoned performer who's reached that stage after many decades. Such sophistication extends to his writing, specifically in compositions that eschew paint-by-numbers structures for settings that develop fluidly and organically. Notated sections merge with improvisation in seamless manner, with soloing emerging naturally out of the compositional design.

Like any artist, Greenwood's the product of the music he's absorbed, the places he's been, and the experiences he's had. The Zimbabwe-born guitarist grew up in his home country before decamping for Canada and now the United States. Certainly the African country's musical heritage and culture exerted an indelible impact on his sensibility, as did his time at Toronto's Humber College and Boston's Berklee Global Jazz Institute, where he earned Bachelor's and Master's degrees, respectively. Being exposed to the music of three different countries profoundly shaped the music he now makes, Daybreak a great example in the way it confidently sidesteps straightforward categorization. That said, modern jazz is obviously a major component, but elements of ambient, global, folk, and rock forms emerge too.

That background declares itself in the splendid personnel Greenwood recruited for the set, Canadian jazz artists Mike Downes (acoustic bass) and Mark Kelso (drums) and, on two pieces, Zimbabwean percussionist Othnell ‘Mangoma' Moyo. Daybreak is largely a trio album, but Greenwood layers guitars—acoustic and electric—to produce a music rich in texture and atmosphere; however much one might want to resist the term cinematic, it applies when its creator has scored a number of short films, including the award-winning animated short Blue Bird. Nine tracks appear on the release, all of them Greenwood originals but for an inspired reimagining of Debussy's "La Damoiselle élue."

In contrast to the oft-introspective character of Atlas, Daybreak is an outward-focused, embracing exercise of exuberant character. The opener, “Beneath Balancing Boulders,” makes that clear when it barrels forth with insistent urgency, its sky instantly filling with painterly washes of guitar and a rolling drum pulse by Kelso. Pealing figures by the leader bend and arc across the thunderous base until the momentum slows for a gentle unaccompanied guitar interlude before for the next uptempo onslaught. No one'll call Daybreak metal, yet there's no denying the electric energy the three unleash.

One could be forgiven for thinking of early Pat Metheny when “Paper Planes” floods the space with a radiant expression packed with light speed guitar and a towering arrangement teeming with ambient guitars, bass, and drums. Downes and Kelso engage in the kind of effervescent rhythmning Paul Wertico and Steve Rodby regularly brought to Pat's music to make the track one of the album's highlights. “Alveston Avenue” shows the trio can rock out when the mood strikes, even if funkier and soulful sides work their way into the performance too. Greenwood's decision to include a solo on acoustic guitar's a nice touch too, especially when it's complemented so nicely by Downes' acoustic bass. The pairing of his bowed bass with the leader's guitars on the moody rumination “Strength to Spare” is music to the ears too (Downes also distinguishes the epic “Jericho” with a memorable solo).

With Moyo and his shakers included, “1000 Paper Cranes” exudes rhythmic heft and potency as it weaves elements of African music into its design. As a genuine indication of Greenwood's artistry, “La Damoiselle élue” becomes an expression that's wholly his when the treatment is awash in elegant atmospherics. Without being disrespectful to Debussy, the guitarist turns the original into a stirring solo presentation that's entirely new and fresh. Often an album leads with its strongest piece; Greenwood's ends with it, “Guide My Hand” a beautiful, chills-inducing track that concludes the set on a soaring note. The moment Downes voices the lyrical theme, the heart melts, and Greenwood merely deepens the spell when he takes it up thereafter. Atop a gently swaying base by Moyo, the bassist and guitarist amplify the music's beauty by repeatedly revisiting and reshaping the melody until ambient guitars bring it to a haunting resolution.

March 2026