The Most Wonderful Time of the Year, features the vocals of Liz Cracchiolo and the Pete Swan Big Band, performing swinging your holiday favorites with an amazing big band sound!

The Brazilian Project is a collaboration between Dmitri Matheny and Holly Pyle that explores the music of Brazil.

Dmitri Matheny

Celebrated for his warm tone, soaring lyricism and masterful technique, American musician Dmitri Matheny has been lauded as “one of the most emotionally expressive improvisers of his generation” (International Review of Music). Farmer, “the bebop master who defined the sound of the flugelhorn in modern jazz” (All Music Guide), was Matheny’s public champion and private mentor. Generously sharing his wisdom, experience and influence, it was Farmer who encouraged Dmitri to devote himself exclusively to the “Big Horn.” Under Farmer’s tutelage Matheny emerged as a promising new voice in jazz. “Art Farmer’s role in the early success of Dmitri Matheny cannot be overstated,” observed writer and historian Phil Elwood. “Without Art, there could be no Dmitri.”

 At 29, after launching a busy recording career on the West Coast, Matheny made his New York debut at the Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall, then began touring internationally. The soulful sound of Dmitri's horn garnered praise from critics and audiences alike, drawing frequent comparisons to Miles Davis, Chet Baker and—not surprisingly—to Art Farmer. Upon Farmer’s passing in 1999, Matheny acquired his mentor’s copper-bell flugelhorn. 

Today, Dmitri leads the Dmitri Matheny Group, “an all-star jazz band featuring some of the most accomplished musicians in the western United States” (All About Jazz). Matheny has toured extensively throughout the United States, Europe and Asia. He has traveled to 21 countries and has performed with many Motown and popular music acts including the Temptations, Martha Reeves, Fabian, the Four Tops, Bobby Vinton, Sandy Patty, Bobby Rydell, Frankie Avalon and the O'Jays. 

Matheny has had the privilege of appearing in concert with such jazz luminaries as Larry Coryell, Nathan Davis, Amina Figarova, Tommy Flanagan, Wycliffe Gordon, Darrell Grant, Larry Grenadier, John Handy, Tom Harrell, Billy Higgins, Red Holloway, Denise Jannah, Joe Lovano, James Moody, Jean Louis Rassinfosse, Tony Reedus, Sam Rivers, Max Roach, the Rosenberg Trio, Bud Shank, Sonny Simmons, Mary Stallings, Akira Tana, Billy Taylor, Bobby Watson and Paula West. 

Matheny’s discography lists over 120 albums on which he appears as a composer, arranger, producer, annotator or flugelhorn soloist. He has released twelve critically-acclaimed albums as a leader: Red Reflections (1995), Penumbra (1996), Starlight Café (1998), Santa’s Got a Brand New Bag (2000), Nocturne (2005), The SnowCat (2006), Spiritu Sancto (2007), Best of Dmitri Matheny (2008), Grant & Matheny (2010), Sagebrush Rebellion (2014), Jazz Noir (2016), and Cascadia (2022). Dmitri Matheny has received several prestigious music awards, including “NW Instrumentalist of the Year” in the 2016 Earshot Jazz Golden Ear Awards and “Best New Artist” (with Brad Mehldau, Stefon Harris and Ravi Coltrane) in the 1999 JazzTimes Readers Poll.

 Dmitri Matheny is also a prolific composer and lyricist whose published compositions span the jazz, pop, symphonic, choral, chamber and world music genres. He has received premieres and commissions from Meet the Composer, St. Domenic’s Church, the Manhattan New Music Project, the American Society of Composers Authors and Publishers (ASCAP), the Jazz Composers Orchestra and 20th Century Forum. Throughout his professional career as a concert and recording artist, Dmitri Matheny has distinguished himself as a dedicated educator, community leader and advocate for jazz and the arts. Matheny presents clinics, lectures, master classes and workshops at leading universities and conservatories, and is gratified to have staged more than 500 free, curriculum-based concerts for kids, introducing over 50,000 school children to jazz. 

Holly Pyle

Pyle had little exposure music in her youth but taught herself piano at a young age. Years of school choirs, musical theater and a handful of voice lessons set Pyle on a path to Northern Arizona University to pursue opera vocal performance. A few years later her attention shifted to jazz and psychology, graduating Magna Cum Laude in 2010.

Pyle spent a few years exploring psychology-related careers until working at a behavioral treatment center for troubled youth; their encouragement ignited her mission towards being a career musician.

Pyle now teaches voice in Tempe and West Phoenix and performs full time in a full spectrum of projects. The Stakes, a six-piece hip-hop collective, just released their debut EP, featuring all original material sung and co-written by Pyle. Holly also has a jazz-based group called House of Stairs that draw from funk, soul and pop influences to create a distinct progressive soundscape. Inspired by the visual innovations of M.C. Escher, House of Stairs approaches composition and performance in a parallel sense, exploring multi-faceted interactions between harmony, meter and lyrics that are both compelling and imaginative.

Pyle also has a vocal looping project, both in a solo setting and a collaboration with multi-instrumentalist Shea Marshall. Pyle stays active in the Jazz community as well, performing with many of Arizona’s finest jazz musicians and has been added to Jazz in AZ’s annual Jazz Divas lineup.

The Brazilian Project is a collaboration between Dmitri Matheny and Holly Pyle that explores the music of Brazil.

Dmitri Matheny

Celebrated for his warm tone, soaring lyricism and masterful technique, American musician Dmitri Matheny has been lauded as “one of the most emotionally expressive improvisers of his generation” (International Review of Music). Farmer, “the bebop master who defined the sound of the flugelhorn in modern jazz” (All Music Guide), was Matheny’s public champion and private mentor. Generously sharing his wisdom, experience and influence, it was Farmer who encouraged Dmitri to devote himself exclusively to the “Big Horn.” Under Farmer’s tutelage Matheny emerged as a promising new voice in jazz. “Art Farmer’s role in the early success of Dmitri Matheny cannot be overstated,” observed writer and historian Phil Elwood. “Without Art, there could be no Dmitri.”

 At 29, after launching a busy recording career on the West Coast, Matheny made his New York debut at the Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall, then began touring internationally. The soulful sound of Dmitri's horn garnered praise from critics and audiences alike, drawing frequent comparisons to Miles Davis, Chet Baker and—not surprisingly—to Art Farmer. Upon Farmer’s passing in 1999, Matheny acquired his mentor’s copper-bell flugelhorn. 

Today, Dmitri leads the Dmitri Matheny Group, “an all-star jazz band featuring some of the most accomplished musicians in the western United States” (All About Jazz). Matheny has toured extensively throughout the United States, Europe and Asia. He has traveled to 21 countries and has performed with many Motown and popular music acts including the Temptations, Martha Reeves, Fabian, the Four Tops, Bobby Vinton, Sandy Patty, Bobby Rydell, Frankie Avalon and the O'Jays. 

Matheny has had the privilege of appearing in concert with such jazz luminaries as Larry Coryell, Nathan Davis, Amina Figarova, Tommy Flanagan, Wycliffe Gordon, Darrell Grant, Larry Grenadier, John Handy, Tom Harrell, Billy Higgins, Red Holloway, Denise Jannah, Joe Lovano, James Moody, Jean Louis Rassinfosse, Tony Reedus, Sam Rivers, Max Roach, the Rosenberg Trio, Bud Shank, Sonny Simmons, Mary Stallings, Akira Tana, Billy Taylor, Bobby Watson and Paula West. 

Matheny’s discography lists over 120 albums on which he appears as a composer, arranger, producer, annotator or flugelhorn soloist. He has released twelve critically-acclaimed albums as a leader: Red Reflections (1995), Penumbra (1996), Starlight Café (1998), Santa’s Got a Brand New Bag (2000), Nocturne (2005), The SnowCat (2006), Spiritu Sancto (2007), Best of Dmitri Matheny (2008), Grant & Matheny (2010), Sagebrush Rebellion (2014), Jazz Noir (2016), and Cascadia (2022). Dmitri Matheny has received several prestigious music awards, including “NW Instrumentalist of the Year” in the 2016 Earshot Jazz Golden Ear Awards and “Best New Artist” (with Brad Mehldau, Stefon Harris and Ravi Coltrane) in the 1999 JazzTimes Readers Poll.

 Dmitri Matheny is also a prolific composer and lyricist whose published compositions span the jazz, pop, symphonic, choral, chamber and world music genres. He has received premieres and commissions from Meet the Composer, St. Domenic’s Church, the Manhattan New Music Project, the American Society of Composers Authors and Publishers (ASCAP), the Jazz Composers Orchestra and 20th Century Forum. Throughout his professional career as a concert and recording artist, Dmitri Matheny has distinguished himself as a dedicated educator, community leader and advocate for jazz and the arts. Matheny presents clinics, lectures, master classes and workshops at leading universities and conservatories, and is gratified to have staged more than 500 free, curriculum-based concerts for kids, introducing over 50,000 school children to jazz. 

Holly Pyle

Pyle had little exposure music in her youth but taught herself piano at a young age. Years of school choirs, musical theater and a handful of voice lessons set Pyle on a path to Northern Arizona University to pursue opera vocal performance. A few years later her attention shifted to jazz and psychology, graduating Magna Cum Laude in 2010.

Pyle spent a few years exploring psychology-related careers until working at a behavioral treatment center for troubled youth; their encouragement ignited her mission towards being a career musician.

Pyle now teaches voice in Tempe and West Phoenix and performs full time in a full spectrum of projects. The Stakes, a six-piece hip-hop collective, just released their debut EP, featuring all original material sung and co-written by Pyle. Holly also has a jazz-based group called House of Stairs that draw from funk, soul and pop influences to create a distinct progressive soundscape. Inspired by the visual innovations of M.C. Escher, House of Stairs approaches composition and performance in a parallel sense, exploring multi-faceted interactions between harmony, meter and lyrics that are both compelling and imaginative.

Pyle also has a vocal looping project, both in a solo setting and a collaboration with multi-instrumentalist Shea Marshall. Pyle stays active in the Jazz community as well, performing with many of Arizona’s finest jazz musicians and has been added to Jazz in AZ’s annual Jazz Divas lineup.