He was a singer-songwriter, bandleader and arranger born Matthew Loveland Dennis in Seattle, Washington, whose father was a singer, his mother a violinist, and the family appeared in Vaudeville.
In 1933 be was employed as a singer and pianist at Horace Heidt’s Orchestra but he later formed his own band with Dick Haymes as his vocalist. He also coached and worked with Martha Tilton and the Stafford Sisters at the same time. He joined Tommy Dorsey after being promoted to him by Jo Stafford, after she went to work for him, and he became a songwriter for him, with fourteen of his songs recorded in one year.
He often collaborated with Tom Adair and several of their songs were hits for artists such as Frank Sinatra and included “Let’s Get Away From It All” and “Violets For Your Furs”. He served three and a half years in the US Air Force in WWII and returned to writing on his completion of service.
In 1953 he saw success with his “Angel Eyes” written in collaboration with the lyricist Earl Brent which became a regularly recorded jazz song. “Will You Still Be Mine” was another popular song of his and Dave Brubeck and his quartet recorded and released their Angel Eyes in 1965 which was comprised of only Matt’s compositions.
He passed away in 2002 in Riverside, California, when he was 88 years old and in 2012 four of his records were released as Welcome Matt by Jasmine Records.
Frank Sinatra Recordings
Let’s Get Away From It All (Tom Adair/Matt Dennis)
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