Life & Work with Matthew Alec of Ohio

Today we’d like to introduce you to Matthew Alec.

Hi Matthew, we’re thrilled to have a chance to learn your story today. So, before we get into specifics, maybe you can briefly walk us through how you got to where you are today?
Okay, sounds good.

I’ve had a long journey in music. I started on the saxophone in 5th grade following the footsteps of my older brother. He had played the clarinet throughout grade school and had recently acquired a Bundy II alto saxophone so that he could play in our school’s jazz band. He did that briefly, but eventually he stopped playing the sax, so it was conveniently sitting in the closet at home when it came time for me!

I cannot say it was love at first sight, however. [Laughs} That horn sat in the closet at school every weekend and was pretty much never touched outside of the band room for the first few years. I seem to recall some questionable green mold that could be found on the reed of that saxophone during those years with at least one or two chips out of the tip of that reed. To be quite frank, I was not good at first. [Laughs}

That sort of changed for me in high school. I befriended a younger, more skilled player that introduced me to jazz and to Charlie Parker… which completely blew me away. Like many who heard “Bird” during his lifetime, I had never heard anything like it. His virtuosity and entire tonal approach was something I had never heard before, but I knew that I loved it. Around that same time I got heavy into classic rock, and I dove fairly deeply into artists like Jimi Hendrix, The Beatles, Queen, The Doors, and soul artists like Stevie Wonder and Marvin Gaye. During that time, I began to play the saxophone a ton. I didn’t practice in a traditional sense all that much per se, but I played it along with records and jammed with CDs with great frequency. My ears began to develop a bit during that period and I started to learn how to solo. I still had a long way to go and still do… but I was beginning to understand a few things.

As such I think I went from either last chair or second to last chair to first chair and the jazz band’s main soloist over the course of about two or three years in high school. I still essentially knew nothing about playing, but I loved it. I also thought that I knew a lot about playing… but that’s one of the reasons why we live. To learn. [Laughs} I also began playing in a couple of rock and pop groups with fellow high school classmates during this time. I recall winning the school’s battle of the bands with my group my senior year and making an appearance at the Cleveland High School Rock Off at a packed Odean club in downtown Cleveland circa 2002. Both of those groups also featured a singer-songwriter that’s doing big things in Toronto these days, Jeremy Votlz. I was lucky enough to record and release a live track with him recently off of my last album, a very lively cover of the Bill Withers’ tune “Just the Two of Us.”

Anyway, that took me to Kent State University here in Ohio, which was my mother’s alma mater. I did not know that I wanted to major in music or attempt to pursue music professionally, but I knew that I wanted to stay with music one way or another. So, I initially entered the music school with the intention of minoring in music. I think I got about two years in before I decided I should just major in it altogether. I think when I got to the school, I had a raw talent and a big sound, but my general music knowledge was less than most of my peers when I got there as I had had no formal training. That said, I worked my way up the ladder during my course of time there and eventually was a regular member and soloist for the university’s top jazz and wind ensembles.

Also during that Kent State stint, I befriended a young vocalist named Maurice Martin. He and I became extremely close friends and eventually we got the idea to form our own band. Initially it was a soul-funk cover band which went by the name 1959, but it soon became an original “soul-rock” band called Winslow which made some waves regionally with a couple of studio records between about 2008 and 2012. One of those records featured Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee Bernie Worrell. Both of them were good records. I don’t love my saxophone playing on all of them, but they’re good records overall and I’m proud that I got to be a part of them.

The funny thing is that looking back at that period of my life, I certainly did learn and grow a lot during that time, but what I learned during that period has paled in comparison to what I have learned since. Winslow disbanded in about 2013 and after that, I have to say I struggled to stay motivated to stay in playing shape. I believe I fell a little out of shape playing-wise for a couple of years and nearly quit playing altogether. I didn’t know many musicians any longer and I didn’t know of any groups that wanted or needed sax. So, I got depressed.

Eventually I got out of it, and began answering Craigslist ads for sax players. Pretty much anyone who would have me. There were a couple of misses in there, but eventually I wound up with a James Brown Tribute band that was pretty solid. That turned out to be the right next step for me. It got me back in shape and learning some styles, but even more importantly it introduced me to several new musicians. New musicians that would eventually help me birth my own jazz fusion group in 2017 which had been a dream of mine for a while.

The first record “Cleveland Time” was recorded during the pandemic and it featured Blues Brothers trombone legend Tom “Bones” Malone who I was lucky enough to get to know through social media and he liked my group’s sound. During the pre-production process I had the thought that it would be great to have a label to record on, but no was taking [laughs], so I thought it would be pretty cool to just start my own label. Cleveland Time Records was born at that moment. That release proved to be a big jumping point for me. It charted on college jazz radio that year for a few weeks and got some really nice international press. I was pretty happy with how that release worked out.

Fast forward to 2026 and my group has now released 4 albums, the latest was this summer’s “A Bad Rep in the Rubber City” which got radio spins across the US and Canada, but perhaps has done the best via YouTube where our jazz meets hip-hop cover of John Coltrane’s “Blue Train” is at nearly 500K plays as of a few days ago! I’ve been impressed with how well the videos have faired on this latest one.

Right now I’m planning the group’s 5th album and it’s 2nd full studio release. I’m really excited to pull the trigger on this one. I don’t think it’s really going to be the music that’s the closest to my heart, but it’s music that I’m going to have a lot of fun making and I think the audience is going to have a lot of fun listening to it. The concept is a modern “yacht-rock” album which is going to have a lot more vocally-driven material than my past releases. I’m not even certain that it will fit all that squarely in the jazz market, but there will definitely be jazz elements to it and some great solos that I think jazz lovers will appreciate. It’s working title is “Cleveland Vice.” Tentatively planned for release in 2027.

The Cleveland Time Records label is still in its infancy. I have plans for a physical location and vision to bring on and produce other jazz-oriented artists, but I still need more time and capital to get it all off the ground. I’ve had a number of conversations with multiple parties that could lead to greater things for the label, but we shall see. It may still be a few years before I can move this part of what I’m doing to the next step. We will see.

Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
A smooth road? Oh my, yeah, anything but.

Creating music in just about any form brings an immense amount of pleasure and an overwhelming feeling of accomplishment. At least when you do it well, anyway. In fairness even creating it can do the opposite of that if you feel poorly about something that you’ve created. That said, I’ll ignore that second point for the sake of this question.

The issues that have plagued my music career and so many others who are out there hustling are unfortunately multi-faceted. The first is that there just aren’t many opportunities out there, or at least not ones that are truly exceptional and provide consistent and adequate compensation. To be blunt, music largely does not pay well. There are fewer and fewer opportunities for musicians of any kind and the ones that are there pay largely the same amount that they did decades ago. The “big fish” accomplished musicians are often fighting for the same scraps that the “semi-pro” weekend warrior musicians are fighting for because there are next to zero big ticket gigs for just about anyone any longer. The one cheat code I have found for this is private events like weddings and corporate engagements. These pay well and can be plentiful if you play your cards right. I’ve had success playing in tribute acts as well which also pay quite well. I’m not a musician who doubles on clarinet or flute, so I typically do not do musical pits or backing orchestras with any regularity, but there is good paying work out there for those who do. Unfortunately, taking any of these kinds of engagements can take their toll on your emotional health if you are consistently forced to play music that you don’t really want to. That’s ultimately the trade off there. There are still openings here and there with big tours for major artists, but you have to know the right people and be in the right circles, and even if you are, those types of engagements are becoming even harder to come by in today’s world, too. I’ve had friends that have been lucky enough to do those types of tours, but sadly I have yet to. That’s one of my dreams… I’ll keep praying and hoping on that.

The other main issue that I’ve struggled with is time. Now in my early ’40s with a two-year-old daughter, a wife, a house, and other necessary avenues for revenue, the time I have to commit to my music career has become increasingly limited outside of the gigs themselves. As a saxophonist who has strived to be a world class musician for a number of years now, I have grown by leaps and bounds but I also have the understanding that if I were to get to a level of mastery that’s required of the truly great saxophonists in today’s world, I’ve still a great deal to learn. Additionally, to grow my record company and continue promoting my own music requires sometimes many hours of work each week. Bare minimum the saxophone requires an hour or so of practice each day. If I had the time to devote that I wanted and really needed to, I would devote 4 to 5 hours a day of practice. Unfortunately, that time simply does not exist in my life at present. I keep hoping that will change at some point… still hoping, praying, and waiting.

Of course, there are many other challenges in music. For brevity’s sake, I’ll spare the readers and keep it to these two key points. I love music. I absolutely love performing and recording. I like writing music a lot, too. The creative aspect of filming and editing music videos brings me a great deal of joy as well. The business of music, however, is absolutely terrible. It’s likely the worst industry you could possibly get into. I wouldn’t know first hand, but my guess is that it’s even worse than Hollywood. My daughter is too young now, but there will come a time in her life that she may be interested in following in dad’s footsteps. It remains to be seen if I will support her doing that or not. Music is hard. I don’t know that I’d wish it on my worst enemy at certain times. Remains to be seen.

Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
I’m a pro saxophonist, budding mult-instrumentalist and vocalist, bandleader for the jazz-rock fusion group Matthew Alec and The Soul Electric, and a record producer and entrepreneur that started the boutique jazz label called Cleveland Time Records just a few years ago.

I’d say as a saxophonist, listeners would probably say that I’ve a big sound with a strong altissimo register, and a soulful and passionate approach to improvising. Some of the reviews out there have alluded to some of those things, anyway.

As a creative, I think I’m proud of all of the albums that I’ve made, particularly the last one “A Bad Rep in the Rubber City,” and the studio album “Cleveland Time.” While my saxophone playing was not as strong as it is now, the albums that I made with the group Winslow some years ago “Crazy Kind of Love” and “Left of the Right Direction” were also big moments for me. Collaborating with Tom “Bones” Malone was pretty sweet, too.

Are there any books, apps, podcasts or blogs that help you do your best?
I wish that I had more time to read. If I did, I would likely have a long list of books for readers to check out. As it is, I tend to read one every couple of years or so. I do listen to some podcasts here and there when I’m in the car, but nothing religiously.

As far as books are concerned, the last one I had the pleasure of checking out was “Ode to a Tenor Titan: The Live and Times of Michael Brecker” by Bill Milkowski. Michael Brecker is and likely will always be my favorite saxophonist and Mr. Milkowski does a tremendous job walking his fans out there through his incredible life. I’d say this is a must read for music fans out there, and not just the jazzers.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.matthewalec.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/matthewalecmusic
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/matthewalecmusic
• Twitter: https://www.x.com/matthewalecjazz
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@matthewalec
• Soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/matthewalecmusic
• Other: https://www.facebook.com/clevelandtimerecords

Image Credits
Robert Banks, Jared Lees, and Roger Smith