Matt Dennis (February 11, 1914 – June 21, 2002) was an American singer, pianist, band leader, arranger, and writer of music for popular music songs.
Born Matthew Loveland Dennis, he learned to play the piano at a young age.. His father was a singer and his mother a violinist, and the family business was a vaudeville act. There he made his debut as one of "The Five Musical Lovelands." In 1933, he joined the ![]()
Horace Heidt orchestra as piano player and vocalist. Several years later, he formed a band with Dick Haymes, one of the great popular baritones of the time. Haymes fronted the band, but Matt Dennis was the musical brain behind it. At the same time, he was building a reputation as an arranger for popular singers.
Horace Heidt orchestra as piano player and vocalist. Several years later, he formed a band with Dick Haymes, one of the great popular baritones of the time. Haymes fronted the band, but Matt Dennis was the musical brain behind it. At the same time, he was building a reputation as an arranger for popular singers. He worked as arranger, accompanyist and vocal coach for Martha Tilton, and helped out a new group that had recently formed called The Stafford Sisters. One of the sisters was named Jo, and in 1940, she when she had joined the Tommy Dorsey Band, she convinced TD to hire Matt as staff arranger-composer. Dennis wrote prolifically, with 14 of his ![]()
songs recorded by the Dorsey band in one year alone, including "Everything Happens to Me", an early hit for Frank Sinatra.
songs recorded by the Dorsey band in one year alone, including "Everything Happens to Me", an early hit for Frank Sinatra.During his service in WWII, Dennis did radio work and arranged music for Glenn Miller's AAF Orchestra, among others. After four years in the United States Air Force in World War II, Dennis returned to music writing and arranging, getting a boost from his old friend Dick Haymes, who hired him to be the music director for his radio program. He also recorded a few sides with Paul Weston & His Orchestra for Capitol Records.
Dennis' chief collaborator was lyricist Tom Adair, and his best-known tunes include "Will You Still Be Mine?,""Let's Get Away from It All,""Everything Happens to Me" (1941), and "Angel Eyes" (1953), but he also penned "We Belong Together,""We've Reached the Point of No Return," and "You Can Believe Me."
Dennis did a series of recordings for the Glendale, RCA, Jubilee, and Kapp labels. HE made six albums, which were out of print for many years; however, his 1953 song "Angel Eyes" (with lyricist Earl Brent) has become a frequently recorded jazz standard; less frequently recorded, but notably by Miles Davis and Sonny Rollins is "Will You Still Be Mine". Pianist Dave Brubeck and his quartet recorded an entire album of Dennis's compositions, released as Angel Eyes in 1965.A popular singer and jazz pianist in the '40s, '50s and '60s in Los ![]()
Angeles area clubs and restaurants such as the Encore, the Tally-Ho and the Lighthouse, Dennis had his own local TV shows on KTTV and KHJ in the early 1950s, and in 1955 was a summer replacement for Eddie Fisher on NBC-TV with "The Matt Dennis Show."
Angeles area clubs and restaurants such as the Encore, the Tally-Ho and the Lighthouse, Dennis had his own local TV shows on KTTV and KHJ in the early 1950s, and in 1955 was a summer replacement for Eddie Fisher on NBC-TV with "The Matt Dennis Show."For the next couple of decades Dennis kept working in radio and then TV, while often hitting the nightclub circuit, but by the late 1960s he was beginning to wind down toward what would be a long retirement. He died in a hospital in Riverside, California at the age of 88.
![]()
In 2012, Jasmine Records re-released four of Dennis' records as "Welcome Matt". The collection included "Plays and Sings Matt Dennis", a 1958 live performance by Dennis' piano trio, of twelve tunes that Dennis had co-authored.
(Inf mainly edited from Wikioedia & All Music)
Matt Dennis sings his "Violets For Your Furs," written in 1941 for Tommy Dorsey and Frank Sinatra. This 1957 clip is from "The Rosemary Clooney Show."
Matt Dennis sings his "Violets For Your Furs," written in 1941 for Tommy Dorsey and Frank Sinatra. This 1957 clip is from "The Rosemary Clooney Show."