Featuring Northern California’s most versatile and innovative musicians—Motoko Honda (pianist-composer), Cory Wright (multi-woodwinds), Jordan Glenn (drums), and Matt Small (bass)—the Simple Excesses Quartet delivers a bold blend of classical chamber music, jazz, free jazz, and experimental sound. Intricate, dynamic, and full of surprises, their performances take audiences through shifting sonic landscapes, captivating both performers and listeners alike.
“The music of pianist and composer Motoko Honda is to mainstream jazz what Brahms’s music was to the neatly packaged forms of the Classical period.”
— Phillip Greenlief, Art Forum, Live at California Jazz Conservatory
“The audience of young lovers and experienced culture seekers hardly moved a muscle for an hour and a half. Apparently we can still concentrate when the occasion demands it.”
— Greg Burk, Metal Jazz, Live at Hammer Museum, Los Angeles
Motoko Honda’s Simple Excesses Quartet brings together four of Northern California’s most versatile and innovative musicians—Honda (pianist-composer), Cory Wright (multi-woodwinds), Jordan Glenn (drums), and Matt Small (bass)—in a bold and imaginative blend of classical chamber music, jazz, free jazz, and experimental sound. Their repertoire, built from intimately crafted compositions, unifies these diverse traditions into dynamic, often surprising musical journeys. With nuanced interplay, shifting textures, and spontaneous improvisations, their performances are as captivating for the performers as they are for the audience—like a soaring flight through ever-changing sonic landscapes.
Motoko Honda – Piano/Composition
Cory Wright – Multi-woodwind
Jordan Glenn – Drums
Matt Small – Bass