The Marion Art Center is pleased to present our second Unplugged event of the year, featuring Matt Richard & Dino Govoni on June 6 playing two sets. This is saxophonist Dino Govoni’s first time playing an Unplugged gig at the MAC.
Seating times for the popular show are 7:00 pm to 8:00 pm and 8:30 pm to 9:30 pm. The cost for members is $15 and for non-members is $20. The MAC is located at 80 Pleasant St. in Marion. Tickets can be purchased at marionartcenter.org/events
Dino Govoni learned from two of Boston’s tenor saxophone greats, Jerry Bergonzi and George Garzone, and furthered his studies by attending Berklee College of Music, studying with the late great Joe Viola.
Dino has played and/or recording with such diverse artists as Grover Washington, Jr., Randy Brecker, Nick Brignola, Claudio Roditi, Queen Latifah, Ben Folds, Melinda Doolittle, Terence Trent D’Arby, Robben Ford, Mel Tormé, the Manhattan Transfer, the Tommy Dorsey Orchestra, Frankie Valli, among others. Dino is a regular guest soloist with the Boston Pops.
May of 2000 saw Govoni participating in Arista Records’ star-studded 25th anniversary concert, playing with Aretha Franklin in New York City.
Dino has released 3 solo projects on the Whaling City Sound label, “Breakin’ Out” and “In The Library” and his newest solo project, “Hiding In Plain Sight”, featuring the great Jeff “Tain” Watts on drums, Alex Sipiagin on trumpet, Henry Hey on piano and Mike Pope on bass.
In 2016, ”Chance Meeting”, a collaboration of friends as the makeup of the band eventually called “A.G.N.Z”, the first letters of each player’s last names, featuring drum great Adam Nussbaum, guitarist Jay Azzolina and bassist Dave Zinno, was released, also on the Whaling City Sound label.
Dino is currently on the faculty at Berklee College of Music.
Matt Richard studied classical piano with Ken Manzer and jazz piano with Dr. Billy Taylor. Workshops and performance master classes included jazz legends Max Roach, Marian McPartland, and Michael Brecker. A native of Fairhaven and a graduate of Westfield State College with a degree in piano performance, Matt taught choral music at Fairhaven High School and at Tabor Academy. Matt was a vocal coach and accompanist for the nationally recognized Jazz In July Workshops at UMASS, Amherst from 1985-2006.
Matt has performed throughout the New England area for the past thirty years as a soloist, an accompanist, and with many different ensembles including jazz vocal legend Sheila Jordan and Dick Johnson and The Artie Shaw Orchestra.
Matt played solo piano at The Roadhouse Cafe in Hyannis, Massachusetts from 1997-2008 as well as joining with Lou Colombo and Dick Johnson on the famous Monday Night Jazz Series from 2002-2008.
Self-produced jazz recordings have included; Hawthorne Street Connection, The Art of the Duo (Jim Robitaille), Talking To Myself (solo piano), OFF SEASON (Gary Johnson and bassist Dave Zinno). In The Sky (Rick Britto), The Jazz Club (Greg Conway and Gerry Wilfong) and All The Colors (Chris Poudrier and Dave Zinno). In 2004, Matt also played a supporting role on Jim Robitaille’s CD, To Music, which features saxophonist Dave Liebman.