Kalispell musician plays Navy tribute in Italy

Kalispell native and United States Navy musician Matthew Jones is bringing his talents from the Flathead Valley to Italy in support of the people that have been some of the most severely affected by COVID-19.

For World Health Day on April 7, Jones, a longtime local performer and Musician Second Class in the Navy, performed with the U.S. Naval Forces Europe Band in a tribute to Italian health-care workers and community members battling the health crisis.

The band is currently stationed in Naples, Italy, where they gave a virtual performance of “O Sole Mio,” a symbolic local standby that describes the sun emerging following a storm.

“We wanted to encourage people that this storm would pass and the sun would shine again,” explained Jones, who has been playing keyboard in the U.S. Naval Forces Europe Band for the past two years.

Jones— who has performed in Iraq, Cyprus, Germany, Montenegro, Malta, France and Poland as part of the band—reported the local population had served as wonderful hosts and the musicians wanted to show their support for the community.

“Italy has supported us (the band and the military) with great hospitality and warmth,” Jones said. “We wanted to give back in some small way that would be meaningful to them.”

THE PERFORMANCE was especially meaningful to Jones because he felt a special connection between the Italian community and his hometown of Kalispell.

“One thing I enjoy about Italy is the sense of family and community here, especially in the southern area,” Jones said. “In ways, it reminds me of my childhood in Kalispell.”

Jones grew up on Airport Road in South Kalispell, where his parents and a few of his siblings still live. He attended Flathead High School and then took music courses at the University of Montana before moving back to Kalispell to raise his family.

Jones credits his family’s love of music and the local artistic community with helping him develop the talents he is now utilizing around the world. “I was raised in a musical family,” he remembered. “My dad was a musician at our church and I grew up playing piano there through high school.”

After college, Jones toured around the “local music scene” for many years, playing in various groups at different venues throughout the valley. “Those gigging years in Kalispell, running my own bands and playing with other local musicians were formative for me and gave me the confidence to become a military musician,” he said.

Jones eventually joined the Navy, starting as an electronics technician 10 years ago. About six years ago, he combined his service with his enduring interest in music by changing rates to a musician. Since then, this commitment has carried him across the country and across the world.

Prior to being stationed in Italy, he was most recently stationed in Washington state, and he said during that time, “I would spend as much leave as possible in Kalispell and the surrounding area with family.”

EVEN THOUGH Jones has had a more colorful career than many other musicians, his most recent performance was unlike anything he had ever experienced before.

Due to coronavirus restrictions, the band created an online virtual performance, with each band member recording their part in a video that compiled all of the performances together digitally. Jones said this setup was a “new experience” for him and the rest of his group.

“Normally, we can get together and rehearse the music until we have it ready,” he said. “In this case, we each prepared our parts separately, so it was a surprise to hear the finished piece at the end.

“For me, the joy of working with this group of musicians is that I can trust them to create great music,” he said. It was also rewarding to create this tribute to the people battling coronavirus in Italy, whom Jones described as “remarkable and resilient people.”

Jones hoped the band’s performance of the Neapolitan classic will help add to this resilience with lyrics in the local dialect like, “What a beautiful thing is a sunny day! The air is serene after a storm.”

The video performance can be viewed on YouTube at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tBHZMKdxnVM

Reporter Bret Anne Serbin may be reached at (406)-758-4459 or bserbin@dailyinterlake.com.