Matt Berry continues jazz exploration with "Everything's Peachy"

Matt Berry's new jazz album "Everything's Peachy" – out today via Acid Jazz – was partly inspired by the unauthorized 2018 flight of Richard "Beebo" Russell.   

Here's the scoop...

The brilliant first album from the Matt Berry Trio is released Friday (June 26), the second instalment of the Jazz Sessions series. Alongside the standard black LP and CD, there is a strictly limited edition green colour vinyl edition, available only from Acid Jazz Records. Get it right here. 

Matt takes a break from his songwriting-led productions to lead an instrumental trio (joined impressively by Graham Mann and Phil Scragg) on ‘Everything’s Peachy’.

The album explores jazz, instrumental and electronic influences, drawing from later Miles Davis and Erik Satie across a remarkable 12-track suite, inspired by the maiden (and only) flight of Richard ‘Beebo’ Russell back in 2018. 

Some may recall reading about Russell was a 28-year-old ground service agent who made international headlines for swiping a Horizon Air twin-engine Dash 8 Q400 aircraft from Seattle-Tacoma Airport. Despite having no formal flight training, Russell took the 76-seater on a crazy joy ride which involved various death-defying aerial maneuvers, boastfully confiding to the air traffic controller "I've played a few video games, so ya know I know what I'm doin' a little bit." 

After flying around the snow-capped peak of Mount Rainier, he quipped, "everything's peachy." You can read Tim Dickinson's story for Rolling Stone on Richard 'Beebo' Russell's unauthorized flight right here. Listen to Everything's Peachy Pt. 8 and Pt. 12 below. Get a black vinyl copy or a digital version of the album from Bandcamp right here.