1) American jazz producer, arranger, conductor, pianist, keyboardist. Has been on the jazz scene, producing for such artists as James Brown and George Benson as well as appearing in many credits for CTI Records in Japan and the United States since the 1970's. Claims to fame later became known well to his appearance are a fisherman's cap, a somewhat unkempt moustache/beard and aviator-frame eyeglasses. 2) David Matthews (born 9 March 1943) is an English composer of mainly orchestral, chamber, vocal and piano works. ...show more

1) American jazz producer, arranger, conductor, pianist, keyboardist. Has been on the jazz scene, producing for such artists as James Brown and George Benson as well as appearing in many credits for CTI Records in Japan and the United States since the 1970's. Claims to fame later became known well to his appearance are a fisherman's cap, a somewhat unkempt moustache/beard and aviator-frame eyeglasses. 2) David Matthews (born 9 March 1943) is an English composer of mainly orchestral, chamber, vocal and piano works.

He was born in London into a family that was 'not especially' musical; the desire to compose did not manifest itself until he was sixteen, and for a time he and his younger brother Colin Matthews, also a composer, were each other's only teachers. The start of the 'Mahler boom' in the early 1960s, when the works of Gustav Mahler began to enter the regular British repertoire for the first time, was a tremendous creative impetus for both of them; but though they have sometimes collaborated as arrangers (for instance in orchestrating seven early Mahler songs) and editors (in the published version of Deryck Cooke's 'performing version' of the draft of Mahler's Tenth Symphony), as composers they have very much gone their separate ways. David Matthews read classics at Nottingham University and afterwards, feeling himself still too much self-taught, studied composition with Anthony Milner; he was also much helped by the advice and encouragement of Nicholas Maw. Then for three years he was associated with Benjamin Britten and the Aldeburgh Festival.

Not until he was 25 did he produce a work that satisfied him sufficiently to be pronounced his 'Opus 1'. He has largely avoided teaching, but to support his composing career has done much editorial work and orchestration of film music. He has also written occasional articles and reviews for various music journals - the culmination of that activity being his book on Sir Michael Tippett, a composer he admires enormously. Tippett is indeed one of the strongest palpable influences on Matthews's own music, which could be characterised as a potent distillation and development of certain qualities that distinguish the Tippett, Britten and Maw generations of English composers - notably their ecstatic melodic writing and vibrantly expanded tonal harmony. ...show less