Matt Belsante - Blame It On My Youth

Bitrate: 320K/s
Time: 47:39
Size: 109.1 MB
Styles: Vocal, Easy Listening
Year: 2008
Art: Front

[3:14] 1. Beyond The Sea
[4:01] 2. Brazil
[4:54] 3. At Last
[4:47] 4. A Whiter Shade Of Pale
[3:26] 5. I Saw Her Standing There
[3:56] 6. Blame It On My Youth
[3:12] 7. Witchcraft
[4:06] 8. I Get Along Without You Very Well
[3:09] 9. I Get A Kick Out Of You
[4:24] 10. Haven't Got Much
[4:03] 11. All In Love Is Fair
[4:23] 12. Never My Love

Every once in awhile there comes along a singer who reminds you of something familiar yet something so new that it leaves you smiling; a young crooner's voice that wraps around you like a warm coat on a cold winters day. Matt Belsante is that rare kind of artist who has something new to offer. The Naperville, Illinois native Matt began playing tenor sax in 6th grade and continued to perform in middle and high school jazz bands. "I used to listen to Sinatra with my grandfather when I was little and my dad always had it in the car as well. At home I listened mostly to instrumental stuff and mostly sax players but big band as well and the major vocalists like Ella Fitzgerald," says Belsante. He started to sing in the jazz choir in high school during his junior year while continuing to play sax in the band. In his senior year he won the Louis Armstrong Jazz Award for both vocal jazz and instrumental jazz (the first student at his school to win both). After high school, Matt attended Vanderbilt University in Nashville, TN to study engineering and economics. He contacted Billy Adair, husband of legendary piano player Beegie Adair, about singing for the Blair Music School Big Band. His mindset was to continue to sing jazz with the big band because he loved it, but never really thought about it as a career. During his four years in college, Matt also sang and arranged music for an acapella group called the Dodecaphonics. In his senior year, Matt got the opportunity to sing the songs of Frank Sinatra with the Nashville Jazz Orchestra, a group of Nashville's top jazz musicians. Billy Adair has always been a great teacher and supporter and helped Matt get the gig in the first place. After graduation, Matt was at a crossroads. Should he focus on a budding music career or find a job in his field? "At this point, I really started to think about the possibility of singing jazz in terms of a career. I am going to continue to work on my craft and listen to artists I neglected to realize before this point (Chet Baker, Sarah Vaughan, Julie London, and current artists, Jamie Cullum, Michael Buble). I really started to believe in my ability and felt like I could make a contribution in this genre if I focused on it and continued to study it." Maturing in a city filled with passion for music, Matt has been able to turn his sensitively realistic thoughts into art.

Recording information: My Space Recording, Nashville, TN.

Tom Hemby (acoustic guitar); Pat Begeson (electric guitar); Connie Ellisor, Pamela Sixfin, David Davidson (violin); Jim Grosjean (viola); Anthony LaMarchina (cello); Denis Solee (flute, tenor saxophone); Doug Moffet (bass clarinet, tenor saxophone, baritone saxophone); Mark Douthit (alto saxophone, tenor saxophone); Cole Burgess (alto saxophone); George Tidwell (trumpet, flugelhorn); Mike Haynes , Jeff Bailey , Steve Patrick (trumpet); Beth Beeson, Jennifer Kummer (French horn); Prentiss Hobbs, Chris McDonald, Barry Green (trombone); Pat Coil (piano, organ); Craig Nelson (bass instrument); Scott Williamson, Bob Mater (drums, drum); Eric Darken (percussion); Eliza Quinn, Penelope Vandersnift (background vocals).

Blame It On My Youth

---