Matthias grew up in Kansas and Alberta, starting on drums at the age of 12, he played professionally with Juno award singer "George Fox" and the rock band "Full Circle." Once introduced to vibes, Matthias found a new expression and enrolled at the Berklee College of Music in Boston to study with legendary vibraphonist Gary Burton. Since graduating, Matthias' groups have appeared at many clubs, festivals, television shows and radio spots.

Performances/recordings with Chris Potter, George Garzone, Kurt Rosenwinkel, Greg Osby, Myron Walden, Donny McCaslin, Mike Murley, Mark Turner, Cuong Vu, Rick Margitza, Ian Froman, Sebastiaan deKrom, Neil Swainson, Barry Romberg, Greg Hutchinson. Jeff Ballard. Antonio Sanchez...

"Lupri, a migrant from rock drums to jazz vibes, plays fast, loose, and at the top of his game."
Fred Bouchard, Down Beat

"...in a beautiful array of musical colors and textures, Same Time Twice exceeds the expectations and satisfaction heard on Lupri's previous two releases, providing a continuum for Lupri's vibraphone and compositional values and creativity."
Paula Edelstein, All Music Guide

"Lupri and company forge a decidedly progressive path on this splendid disc of well crafted originals."
Bill Milkowski, JazzTimes

"Chalk Same Time Twice up as a top contender for 2002! Feverishly recommended..."
Glenn Astarita, All About Jazz

"I've said it before, and I'll say it again: Matthias Lupri has created a personalized approach to his instrument and to his music."
Don Williamson, JazzReview

"Lupri's third album, the splendid Same Time Twice, offers a brace of fresh originals that have an open, now feel."
Zan Stewart, Liner Notes to Same Time Twice

"Lupri's leading edge jazz pieces reflect a desire to harbor growth, while not losing sight of the tradition."
Jim Santella, All About Jazz

An accomplished composer and promising new talent on the international jazz scene, vibraphonist Matthias Lupri is also a savvy bandleader who has always surrounded himself with outstanding sidemen. One of the primary reasons that Lupri has been able to recruit such heavyweight players for his projects is by virtue of the sheer quality and striking character of his material. Great musicians love a challenge, and on any Lupri gig that comes in the form of devilishly tricky heads and odd time signatures, intricate lines and sophisticated, moving harmonies.

Just as his one-time Berklee mentor Gary Burton did during the 1970s, Lupri is making a singular statement on his instrument while carving out some new territory along the way. But unlike Burton, he's doing it while also embracing electronics and incorporating extended techniques. "I'm just trying to find different palettes of color and use them to the best of my ability to say what I want to say," explains the vibraphonist who also currently works in the percussion department at Berklee. "And I'm also using the electronic stuff to expand that palette."

On the atmospheric opener, "Metalix IV Prelude," the first thing the listener hears is the eerie sound of Lupri playing a violin bow on the vibes, but it's been reversed, looped and distorted electronically. He creates a similarly ethereal texture with the violin bow on the chilling soundscape "Ghost Clusters." "I've been exploring that more," he explains. "It's playing with two violin bows or playing with one violin bow in one hand and mallets in the other hand. The idea is, you can play something with the bow and start looping it with electronics, then you put down the bow and play with mallets over the loop."

Joining him on this ambitious and riveting 16-part suite are guitarist Nate Radley, bassist Thomson Kneeland and drummer Jordan Perlson (all returning from Transition Sonic). Radley, a brilliant but under-recognized player on the New York scene, is coming out of the Pat Metheny school of fleet-fingered, fluid improvisers and is also solidly in the Kurt Rosenwinkel-Ben Monder camp of warm-toned, harmonic provocateurs who are in search of something fresh. He contributes outstanding solos here on "Wondering & Wandering," "Glass Stairs" and "Time Design," the latter being laced with distortion and delay (somewhat along the lines of a Bill Frisell, Terje Rypdal or Allan Holdsworth). Kneeland and Perlson, who have forged a dynamic and highly interactive chemistry together over time, play hand-in-glove throughout Metalix. "These guys all play beautifully and can nail the odd time signature stuff," says the composer. "And it just spurs you on to write and keep moving the music forward." Together they skillfully negotiate the odd time signatures of pieces like "Dream Nocturne" (in 6/4), "Metalix" (9/8), "Wandering and Wondering" (5/4), "Lost Creek" (which is in a variety of time signatures), "Glass Stairs" (13/4) and "Time Design" (which nimbly shifts back and forth between seven and six, and four).

There is also a non-musical subtext here that is as provocative as the sounds heard on Metalix. As Lupri explains, "The idea of Metalix came to me as some kind of symbol of life itself. It's a very cryptic kind of thing and as I think about it more and delve deeper into it, I find out more answers for myself regarding it. But it's just one of those symbolic things that came to me...sort of in a dream. A lot of stuff comes to me at night in that period when you're sleeping and where you kind of fade in and fade out of consciousness. That's where pieces like ‘Dream Nocturne,' ‘Ghost Clusters' and ‘Flowers for Mary Jane' came from. You know, when you live your life around music and creating music and writing music, it comes and goes and it filters through all the time - when you're dreaming, when you're sleeping, when you're waking up. And with me it's gotten to the point where it's like, ‘What came first the chicken or the egg' with all this stuff: You write your music and it reflects your life, then your life reflects back to your music. And as your life develops, you continue to grow with the music. And as an improviser, too, you're always trying to keep searching for that infinite thing."

 ©Bill Milkowski - excerpts from the CD liner notes

Bill Milkowski is a contributor to Jazz Times and Jazziz. He is also the author of "JACO: The Extraordinary and Tragic Life of Jaco Pastorius" (Backbeat Books)