Matthew Jacobson

Matthew Jacobson is an Irish drummer, composer, bandleader, educator and producer.

As well as performing, composing for and recording with his own groups ReDiviDeR and Insufficient Funs, he also co-leads Roamer, a quartet of Ireland's most internationally recognised improvisers and performs regularly with Anna Mieke; UMBRA; Berri; Ensemble Ériu; SlapBang; Origin Story; BigSpoon; AERIE (DE); Fireplace Dragon (US) and hyperlynx (CH) among others.

Matthew is co-director of Diatribe Records, Ireland's leading independent record label for new sounds and is the Irish producer of European exchange tour and event network Match&Fuse. He is also a full-time Jazz Lecturer in DCU – specialising in drum skills, ensembles, free improvisation and music business.
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He has received numerous grants from the Arts Council of Ireland including Travel and Training awards, Project awards, Bursary awards, Recording awards and Touring awards and has received several Culture Ireland awards to present new Irish works all around the world.

He received a Fulbright Scholar Award in 2013 to spend a nine-month period in New York developing compositional and improvisational skills. He was also selected as Dun Laoghaire-Rathdown’s inaugural Musician-in-Residence from October 2015 – January 2016.

Matthew gained his BA in Jazz Performance at Newpark Music Centre, Dublin in 2008 and in 2010 he received an MA in Music Performance from Lucerne University, Switzerland. In 2021 he completed a practice-based PhD at Ulster University, exploring improvisational approaches to motivic compositions.

Matthew proudly uses Jesse Simpson Cymbals with thanks to the Irish Arts Council, Music Network and the Department of Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht.

"One of the most dynamic forces in Irish jazz, on and off the stage" - the Irish Times
"A European jazz artist of growing charisma" - John Fordham, the Guardian