Matt White is doing something genuinely uncommon. The South Carolina-based trumpeter, composer, and arranger has built a full album around the early songwriting of Dolly Parton, approaching her catalog not as tribute or novelty but as serious cultural excavation. Matt White’s Dolly arrives May 15 in digital and CD formats, self-produced and deeply considered from the first note to the last.
The ensemble White assembled reflects the seriousness of the undertaking. Vocalist Liz Kelley, guitarist Tim Fischer, organist Demetrius Doctor, and drummer Colleen Clark join White on cornet, working through arrangements that preserve the original melodies, lyrics, keys, and modulations while reshaping the surrounding musical language entirely. The result sits at the intersection of Southern sacred tradition, chamber arranging, and open improvisation, and it earns every inch of that space.
The project traces back to a late-night moment during the recording of White’s previous album Lowcountry, when a young Dolly Parton performing “The Bridge” appeared on his screen. White immediately recognized the 3-3-2 rhythmic pattern at the heart of the song, the same pattern embedded in ring-shout traditions present in Gullah communities he had studied for years. A new album came into focus right there. “She’s the greatest living American,” White says of Parton, “because she embodies the things we hope this country can be.”
Lowcountry, co-produced with Quentin E. Baxter of Grammy-winning South Carolina ensemble Ranky Tanky, drew national attention and serious critical praise. The Wall Street Journal and DownBeat both took note of White’s gift for connecting living traditions to contemporary practice without reducing either. Matt White’s Dolly extends that commitment into one of the most iconic bodies of American songwriting ever written.
White currently serves as Professor, Chair of Jazz Studies, and Director of the Center for Southern African American Music at the University of South Carolina School of Music. His research runs deep, and this album shows exactly what that depth sounds like when it meets a great song.
Tracklisting:
- Down from Dover
- My Blue Tears
- 9 to 5 (1)
- The Bridge
- 9 to 5 (2)
- The Carroll County Accident
- 9 to 5 (3)
- Jolene
- Little Bird