Onzy Durrett Matthews, Jr. (January 15, 1930 â€" November 13, 1997)
was an American jazz pianist, singer, arranger and composer as well as
a television and movie actor. He is best known for the big band
arrangements done for the Lou Rawls albums Black and Blue and Tobacco
Road, as well as arrangements for several of Ray Charles' 1960s
releases. He had his own big band for many years and recorded numerous
tracks for Capitol Records, including two albums released under his
own name. He later had a close relationship with the Duke Ellington
orchestra, working as a pianist, arranger and conductor through the
late 1960s and 1970s.Onzy Durrett Matthews, Jr. was born on January
15, 1930 to Onzy Matthews and Leola Jones in Fort Worth, Texas. He
grew up in Dallas until his early teens when his mother moved to Los
Angeles seeking better paying work. His early exposure to music was
through singing in a church gospel choir.Matthews knew early on he
wanted to be a musician: "music was his calling." He graduated from
high school early, at the age of 16, and primarily wanted to be a
singer. "I taught myself to accompany myself on piano and then I found
out you had to have arrangements." In the early 1950s he enrolled in
the Westlake College of Music in Hollywood and studied voice, ear
training and harmony; much like Berklee School of Music they were
proponents of the Schillinger System. He auditioned for band leader
Les Brown as an arranger; Brown helped Matthews focus on what to keep
in an arrangement that works, and what to discard.In 1959 Matthews
contacted Dexter Gordon who was prominent in the Los Angeles jazz
scene at the time. Matthews' first big band was started with the help
of Gordon and fellow saxophonist Curtis Amy. The group started with a
book of 21 charts from Matthews, and rehearsed on Wednesday nights for
5 months until they finally booked gigs in the area. The group was a
conglomerate of all-star Los Angeles jazz/studio artists who
immediately took a liking to playing Matthews' inventive, blues-based
orchestrations; the first players coming through his band included
Gordon, Amy, Sonny Criss, Jack Sheldon, Carmell Jones, and Red
Mitchell. Curtis Amy included two of Matthews' original tunes on his
Pacific Jazz LPs Meetin' Here and Way Down in 1961 and 1962
respectively. Dexter Gordon recorded Matthews' original tune "Very
Saxily Yours" for his Gettin' Around LP on Blue Note Records, but the
track was not released until 25 years later on the CD re-issue.
Matthews became known around Los Angeles as an adept arranger and
musical director; his first professional arranging assignments came at
this time with Lionel Hampton, Della Reese, Ruth Price, and Gene
McDaniels. The first tune of Matthews to be commercially recorded was
in 1956, when clarinetist Maurice Meunier, who had played with Lionel
Hampton, recorded in France. Meunier had got a copy of Matthews' Blues
for the Reverend through his association with the Hampton band the
year before.
was an American jazz pianist, singer, arranger and composer as well as
a television and movie actor. He is best known for the big band
arrangements done for the Lou Rawls albums Black and Blue and Tobacco
Road, as well as arrangements for several of Ray Charles' 1960s
releases. He had his own big band for many years and recorded numerous
tracks for Capitol Records, including two albums released under his
own name. He later had a close relationship with the Duke Ellington
orchestra, working as a pianist, arranger and conductor through the
late 1960s and 1970s.Onzy Durrett Matthews, Jr. was born on January
15, 1930 to Onzy Matthews and Leola Jones in Fort Worth, Texas. He
grew up in Dallas until his early teens when his mother moved to Los
Angeles seeking better paying work. His early exposure to music was
through singing in a church gospel choir.Matthews knew early on he
wanted to be a musician: "music was his calling." He graduated from
high school early, at the age of 16, and primarily wanted to be a
singer. "I taught myself to accompany myself on piano and then I found
out you had to have arrangements." In the early 1950s he enrolled in
the Westlake College of Music in Hollywood and studied voice, ear
training and harmony; much like Berklee School of Music they were
proponents of the Schillinger System. He auditioned for band leader
Les Brown as an arranger; Brown helped Matthews focus on what to keep
in an arrangement that works, and what to discard.In 1959 Matthews
contacted Dexter Gordon who was prominent in the Los Angeles jazz
scene at the time. Matthews' first big band was started with the help
of Gordon and fellow saxophonist Curtis Amy. The group started with a
book of 21 charts from Matthews, and rehearsed on Wednesday nights for
5 months until they finally booked gigs in the area. The group was a
conglomerate of all-star Los Angeles jazz/studio artists who
immediately took a liking to playing Matthews' inventive, blues-based
orchestrations; the first players coming through his band included
Gordon, Amy, Sonny Criss, Jack Sheldon, Carmell Jones, and Red
Mitchell. Curtis Amy included two of Matthews' original tunes on his
Pacific Jazz LPs Meetin' Here and Way Down in 1961 and 1962
respectively. Dexter Gordon recorded Matthews' original tune "Very
Saxily Yours" for his Gettin' Around LP on Blue Note Records, but the
track was not released until 25 years later on the CD re-issue.
Matthews became known around Los Angeles as an adept arranger and
musical director; his first professional arranging assignments came at
this time with Lionel Hampton, Della Reese, Ruth Price, and Gene
McDaniels. The first tune of Matthews to be commercially recorded was
in 1956, when clarinetist Maurice Meunier, who had played with Lionel
Hampton, recorded in France. Meunier had got a copy of Matthews' Blues
for the Reverend through his association with the Hampton band the
year before.
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