ARNALDO ANAYA-LUCCA Photographs MATTHEW AVEDON for Departures Magazine

Matthew with his custom made jazz guitar in a Dolce + Gabbana evening jacket, skinny black jeans and a cool jazz vibe. Photograph © Arnaldo Anaya-Lucca

Arnaldo writes on Instagram: "Matthew Avedon in Rock-Star Mode In My FAV look From Our Feature in The March/April issue of Departures Magazine. Clad in Ralph Lauren Purple Label, Styled by @lejosef, Hair by @merritthair, Make up by @makeupbymarco, Lighting by @normme + @visajes_ " Photograph © Arnaldo Anaya-Lucca

Photograph © Arnaldo Anaya-Lucca

An out-take of Musician + Model-Icon Matthew Avedon, Clad in Burberry for the March/April issue of Departures Magazine, Styled by @lejosef; Hair by @merritthair; Make up by @makeupbymarco; Lighting by @normme + @visajes_ Photograph © Arnaldo Anaya-Lucca

Matthew Avedon was photographed by the awesomely fabulous fashion photographer Arnaldo Anaya-Lucca, who first "discovered" Matt 17 years ago as a teenage skateboarder. This shoot was styled by lauren.e.m.joseph for the March/April issue of Departures Magazine. Shot mostly on location at the Roxy Hotel in Tribeca where Avedon plays an eclectic mix of gypsy jazz and other sounds on most Sunday afternoons; you can also catch him with his group, Kings County Swing, Monday nights at St. Mazie (345 Grand, Williamsburg); Tuesday nights at Brooklyn’s Cafe Moto (395 B’Way, Brklyn); Friday nights at Diviera Drive (131 Berry St, Brklyn); and other night spots in-between. Follow Kings County Swing on Facebook for some updates where they are playing.  

 An Interview With Matthew Avedon 

Follow everyone on Instagram: @arnaldoanaya @matthewavedon @dnamodels @departuresmag @elizabethavedon @lejosef @theroxyhotelnyc @cafemotobrooklyn @normme  @visajes_ @makeupbymarco @merritthair and check out Matthew at DNAmodels

MOZIE BICYCLES: Urban Chic | The 'Marc'

Model/Musician Matthew Avedon 

off to a gig on his sleek new ride - the 'Marc' by Mozie

Mozie Bicycles, a leading innovator of European and Vintage-style bikes, was born out of the desire to design the perfect street bicycles that would represent the innate style of the rider through a handsome elegant design. Bicycles that retain comfort and practicality without sacrificing the exterior look. Bicycles that uphold classical, stylish cycling heritage while embracing the technologies and improvements of the modern world.

The 'Marc' combines sleek design with functionality, creating an exceptional ride. This bicycle is truly designed for the rider who knows where they want to go and wants to get there in style.

Buck + Wing is a luxurious line of leather cycle accessories for these bikes. Using hand-crafted tooling techniques, combined with finest high-quality leathers and hides, Buck + Wing brings a select range of saddles, grips, baskets, bags and accessories. 

Moto Cafe, Williamsburg, Brooklyn

"Thanks Mozie Bicycles for helping me get to my gigs in style" – Matthew Avedon. Avedon plays Gypsy Jazz every Monday night at St. Mazie, Tuesday nights at Moto Cafe, Sundays at The Roxy.

  Matthew Avedon at The Roxy in Tribeca, NYC

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Dog in a Basket

William Avedon and Lecha riding the 'Carolina'

Inspired by the rich bicycle culture of Holland and Denmark, 'Carolina's' oversized Buck and Wing Basket sits atop an assortment of incredible accessories. Comfort leather grips and sprung saddle  create an enjoyable journey, while the front stabilizer spring helps steady her load. The oversized chrome wheel-powered headlamp, frame-mounted tire pump, and rear carrier rack add further functionality.

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"You don't need to be an engineer to get it assembled"
Mozie Founder, Darren Buck

Mozie bicycles are shipped almost fully built

"Been cruising around all day on my sweet new gig-mobile.

Awesome gears!!!"–Matthew Avedon

AVEDONS MAKE NEWS: Top Fashion Magazines September Issues

Emma Ferrer, Grand-daughter of Audrey Hepburn
Photograph by Michael Avedon

"Harper’s Bazaar‘s September issue will feature a photograph of Audrey Hepburn’s granddaughter, Emma Ferrer, shot by Richard Avedon’s grandson, Michael Avedon. Avedon, 23, has been pursuing photography since 2006, and photographed fashion editorials for Harper’s Bazaar Paris and Carine Roitfeld’s CR Fashion Book."(from artnet news)

Check out Michael's website to view his fashion editorials and portraits including Coco Rocha, Chuck Close, Peter Beard, Francesco Clemente and beautiful series of his Grandmother, Elizabeth Moynihan.

Michael Avedon Photography

Matthew Avedon and

The Kings County Swing on Twitter

Michael and (half-brother and my kid) Matthew Avedon, are both featured in this September's top fashion magazines. Matthew and Supermodel Magdalena Frackowiak were photographed by fashion Photographer Nathaniel Goldberg in "An Affair To Remember" story for Vogue China's September 2014 issue.

Magdalena Frackowiak and Matthew Avedon 

Photograph by Nathaniel Goldberg 

for Vogue China September 2014

Magdalena Frackowiak and Matthew Avedon

Photographs by Nathaniel Goldberg

Vogue China September 2014

Supermodel Magdalena Frackowiak and Matthew Avedon photographed by Fashion Photographer Nathaniel Goldberg in "An Affair To Remember"story for Vogue China's September 2014 issue.

Matthew Avedon, represented by DNA Models, is a talented musician, well-known around the New York City and Brooklyn music scene. He plays a mix of gypsy jazz, country and swing. Kings County Swing

Matthew Avedon and

The Kings County Swing on Twitter

MATTHEW AVEDON TRIO: Gypsy Jazz At The Club Room at The Soho Grand

 MATTHEW AVEDON TRIO - FRIDAYS AT THE SOHO GRAND
with Matthew Avedon, Jordan Hyde and Jay Sanford
The Club Room at The Soho Grand 7 - 10

"It is with great pleasure that we are able to introduce The Matthew Avedon Trio into our weekly program at The Club Room at The Soho Grand. The Trio have proven their ability to bring a uniquely beautiful sound to wherever they play, but we like to think that when they step into The Club Room a little bit of magic happens."

We spoke with Matthew Avedon, guitarist of the trio about his influences, growing up around great music and the current state of jazz in NYC:

GrandLife: Growing up, how big of a role did music play in the Avedon household?

Matthew Avedon: Music was always a big part of my family but in very specific ways. I don’t think my dad ever played anything besides the Beatles my entire childhood, which is why I can’t ever listen to the Beatles anymore! I can sing every lyric to every song but I haven’t listened to any of it for years. My mom was more of a Doors fan and I feel the same way about their music; I love and can’t stand it! However, these are definitely the foundation on which my love for music was built even if I’ve moved away from them.

GL: Clearly, Django Reinhardt is a big influence on your music. How did you discover him?

MA: Django entered my life almost by accident. Every now and then I’ll go and buy a bunch of records from bands or artists that I’ve never listened to or even heard of just to find new music I like. I’ve spent a fortune on crap music but it’s all been worth it for those few records that stuck with me, and in Django’s case changed my life. I had read his name in guitar magazines and decided to check him out, this was before I had ever played any jazz, but the music struck a chord immediately. It’s got all the elements for good music: strong melody, strong rhythm, and virtuosity. It’s just so much fun to listen to and even more fun to play.

GL: How did you develop your style? Would you consider yourself more comfortable as a soloist or in an ensemble?

MA: I’ve definitely used Django and gypsy jazz as a foundation from which I developed my style. I play modern jazz, blues, rockabilly and used to be in some punk and metal bands (!) but my playing at its most basic form comes from what I’ve learned playing Django’s music. I do like to think that I’ve built on it significantly though, I play a way more modern version of gypsy jazz than Django did; it’s 2013, I’m not a strict traditionalist so much as a fan of this music which happens to be 70 years old. My band mates Jay Sanford (upright bass) and Jordan Hyde (guitar) are much the same. We all listen to the old recordings for inspiration and filter them through our own personal styles, that’s why we get along so well and play so well together.

GL: What makes for a perfect gig?

MA: A perfect gig for me is one where everyone in the band is feeling good and really listening to each other. When we’re connecting musically we push each other to play better, this is when I’m happiest. We’ve all played high paying gigs that just sucked because the music was boring or there was no energy or something; a good gig comes from good music and that requires everyone in the band to be on point.

GL: If you could go back to any period of New York jazz, which would it would be and why?

MA: Like most jazz musicians I’d love to be in NYC in the mid 40′s when bebop was really coming together as a new style of music. Even though I don’t really play that music so much the creative energy that formed it was so intense I’d just love to be involved or witness it at least. Now that music is considered completely normal, square and stale even, but at the time it was so revolutionary that it was unheard of, like a musical wild west. So exciting!

GL: What future plans for performing and recording can we expect in the future?

MA: We’ve just finished our first album in classic Django and swing tunes, which should be available for purchase at our gigs soon and plan on recording an album of originals in the gypsy jazz style in a few months. As for gigs we’re going to continue playing the Soho Grand every Friday, it’s been a great gig so far with a beautiful ambiance and fun receptive clientele as well as having great acoustics. We sound great in that room! We play around the city about four nights a week and encourage everyone to visit our website at kingscountyswing.com to keep up to date on our schedule!

aka: King's County Swing

Tuesday Nights: MOTO, 394 Broadway, Brooklyn

Friday Nights: The Club Room at The Soho Grand, NY

THE HOT CLUB OF FLATBUSH QUINTET: Parisian Acoustic Jazz Influence

PLAY THE YOUTUBE VIDEO

Hot Club of Flatbush
Track "After You've Gone"

Jazz Vocalist: Gretchen Vitamvas
Violin/Mandolin: Ben Swan - Guitar: Jason Goodner
Bass: Russ Wimbish - Guitar: Matthew Avedon

Request a Great Hot Club of Flatbush CD ($10)

ARNALDO ANAYA-LUCCA: Iconic Imagery

from Anaya-Lucca's 2009 Adam & Eve exhibition
Photograph (c) Arnaldo Anaya-Lucca

Photograph of Tyson Beckford by Arnaldo Anaya-Lucca

“I had a beautiful childhood in Puerto Rico, very magical, and I guess that kind of sets the way you experience and see life in the future. My boyfriend and friends always say I am like a 5-year-old, which its kind of true. I get very excited every morning about what the day might bring. I guess I managed to keep that child inside of me. When you are excited about life in general, you feel very grateful and that breeds a very positive state of mind. And only a positive state of mind is able to see the endless beauty surrounding us. My inspiration always comes from every day life. People, places, history, art, society. It’s the way we see ordinary events, objects that leads us to creativity and then the way we experience those things that leads us to our unique style. But my way of seeing things was definitely influenced by the works of Richard Avedon, Bruce Weber, Steven Meisel and Herbert List‘s magical photographs.”

“I always loved taking pictures but never dreamed it could become a career for me. When I was in high school, one of my older brothers, Abel, started taking pictures and I got the bug. On my 18th birthday, my parents bought me my first camera, a Yashica FX3 (I still have it) I told my parents I wanted to major in photography but that did not go over well. My Dad was a cardiologist and to him photography could only be a hobby, so I went to college and majored in Finance. I became a yearbook photographer at my College (I went to school in Kansas City, Mo.). To this day all my college friends think of me as always having a camera around my neck and to them this career is not a surprise but it is to me.”

“After college I moved to NY and after being turned down 4 times…yes, I got 4 rejection letters in one year, I landed a job with Ralph Lauren at the Polo Mansion on 72nd St. in the spring of 1988 in the men’s clothing department selling suits. You see I had become a bit obsessed with Ralph Lauren and my dream was to one day work along side “The Man” himself.”

Photographs by Arnaldo Anaya-Lucca

“After 4 1/2 years in the mansion I got my big break in the beginning of 1993 and was offered a position in Ralph Lauren’s Men’s Design Studio. I was now working and developing Men’s Lines with Ralph…my dream became a reality or so I thought!! I was still taking pictures but design was my focus and I loved it. It was Ralph’s eldest son, Andrew Lauren, that inadvertently opened my photography’s Pandora’s box in late 1994. Andrew’s then girlfriend and my best friend, Rebecca Indri, told Andrew that he should ask me to photograph him as he was interested in becoming an actor and needed a head shot. She told him that my hobby was taking pictures and that I was good. I photographed him a few weeks later and the result was amazing. I shot him in my apartment with daylight b&w portraits against a white wall. He looked like a 1950′s movie star in my photos. A month later I was in a design meeting with Ralph he pulled out the photos and said, “Your pictures of Andrew are unbelievable…you captured him like no one has in the past and he has been photographed by many top fashion photogs!” He said,“You have a gift, an amazing eye and I want you shoot an ad campaign for me.”

Photograph by Arnaldo Anaya-Lucca

Arnaldo Anaya-Lucca and Ralph Lauren

“Well he kept his word and 3 month’s later I photographed Tyson Beckford for the launch of Ralph Lauren’s high-end men’s brand, Purple Label. The photo ran in American GQ in the fall of 1995. It was my 1st published photograph and still one of my favorites! My photography career was born and in the summer 1997 I left Ralph Lauren after 10 years in the company to pursue photography full-time with Ralph’s blessing. He became my most loyal client. That’s the real dream for me, shooting Ad campaigns for my mentor, Mr. Ralph Lauren.”

You can read the full Interview with Arnaldo Anaya-Lucca and photographer Navo on The Minority Reports. Thanks so much to Navo for letting me excerpt from your Interview.

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It was Arnaldo Anaya-Lucca who "discovered" my son Matthew Avedon, took his photograph and brought it in to Next Model Management. Matthew signed up for a modeling contract and has been working ever since. Thank you Arnaldo!