Matt Silver
Digital WriterMatt Silver is a journalist, commentator, and storyteller who’s been enamored with the concept of performance since his grandparents told him as a toddler that singing "Sunrise, Sunset" in rooms full of strangers was the cool thing to do.
In his writing—informed by backgrounds in law, reporting, and creative writing— he seeks to understand the indulgent, joy-enhancing, and therapeutic power of music within the context of our everyday lives and the challenges of our wider culture; he knows of no other artistic medium that speaks to, speaks for, and nourishes life’s panoply of emotional shades and colors to a similar extent. Why does music not just provide enjoyment but imbue us with purpose? Why, when awestruck by a piece of music, do you play it over and over again so as to hold onto that exalted feeling for just a moment longer? Wait, it can’t be just Matt who does that, right?
His love of jazz comes from his father, Ken, an accomplished clarinetist, bandleader, and educator, who's passed on his extensive knowledge of the Real Book and an abiding love for jazz tunes with Broadway origins.
Matt’s contributed regularly to WRTI's Arts Desk since 2018; his work has also appeared on NPR.org and public media platforms across the country, as well as in The Jewish Exponent (Philadelphia), Washington Jewish Week, Jewish News of Greater Phoenix, and The Pittsburgh Jewish Chronicle.
In addition to writing for WRTI's Arts Desk, Matt can frequently be found whistling Gershwin or Bernstein with gusto or trying to replicate the sounds of Stan Getz and Larry McKenna on his saxophone, which he's found is a good deal harder than it looks. He is a proud member of that group of hardy souls who got their start at WRTI hosting Jazz through the Night, and is the host emeritus of The Silver Standard, a weekly sports-talk program that aired on Philadelphia’s 610 ESPN.
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July 19, 2021. Louis Armstrong is so often framed as a jazz forefather that it becomes easy to lose sight of how much music—really good music—he recorded…
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July 12, 2021. In Philadelphia, we’ll always go nuts for the Orrin Evanses and the Christian McBrides and the Joey DeFrancescos of the world—as jazz goes,…
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July 5th, 2021. There’s a very simple concept that’s too often lost in contemporary public discourse: Two seemingly conflicting concepts can be true at…
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June 28, 2021. With Christian McBride, the question isn’t what can or can’t he do; the question is, rather: What hasn’t he done yet? On For Jimmy, Wes and…
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June 21, 2021. In 2019, Grammy-nominated vocalist Nnenna Freelon lost her husband Phil, the man she called her soul mate, after a years-long battle with…
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There’s a lot you can do with a sense of rhythm, a way with words, and a knack for telling a good story, but you have to be willing to persevere. Allow…
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In jazz, as in life, you are the company you keep. Perhaps unfair at times, it’s a truism that works out nicely for pianist Keith Brown. Casual jazz fans…
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June 7, 2021. If you have any questions about where vocalist Allan Harris grew up or for whom he sings, you haven’t heard Kate’s Soulfood yet. One listen…
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May 31, 2021. It takes a lot to ground a squadron of fighter jets when they’ve got a mission to fulfill; the same goes for the Airmen of Note, the United…
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A year ago, Gloria Galante was stuck at home, and, like many, feeling powerless in the face of a pandemic-induced quarantine and growing anger as the…