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NEW!!--Download a preview from the coming DVD, MATTHEW COOK LIVE AT THE BENBOW INN.
8.3 MB File Canon In D MP4 9.9 MB File Passage .mov
Artist Story

I am an artist from Northern California. I create environments for people to enjoy. Surrounded by the beauty of our Ancient Redwood Forests, steeped in the stillness and awe-inspiring power of nature, my art speaks of a sense of peace and well-being amid the struggles of being human.
In Redwood Reflections, A Suite For Solo Piano, I take the listener on a day trip through a majestic Redwood Forest, evoking in the listener the feelings of serenity and refreshment that seem so elusive in the day-to-day struggle of living that occupies so much of our lives. Here is a mini-vacation for when we just don't have the time to get away. The opening song, Morning Fog, depicts the stillness of early morning deep in the forest. Tendrils of fog snake their way between the trees as the sun rises high enough to splash occasionally through the mass of greenery overhead.
A recent project, ‘Another Piece Of Me,’ is a guitar/vocal CD released in October, 2005. Most of these songs have to do with environments--the people and places around me--and my relationship to them. My songs come from my own struggles to survive and grow as a human in a complex world.
‘Another Piece Of Me’ is a song I wrote as I was going through the breakup of a 20 year marriage. This was a time of much introspection for me and I was thinking about all the pieces of ourselves that we leave behind as we change and go through life and relationships. Some of those pieces are best left behind and we never want to see them again, but others are things that we need and have to go back and reconnect with them..
My life is my art and my art is my life. It has always been thus for me and I have had interesting and rich experiences for it. I have been fortunate to be able to share pieces of that through my music.
Over the years I have developed my own piano style, 'Folk-Jazz' , combining the simplicity, accessibility and personableness of folk music with some of the heady elements of modern jazz.
All of my piano CDs are high-quality recordings of Yamaha Grand Pianos. 'Summertime' 'The Rose' and 'By Request' were recorded live on a Yamaha C-3. 'Redwood Reflections', 'Stormy Weather', and 'Moondance' were recorded in the studio on a Yamaha C-7.
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