Matt Belsante - When You're Smiling (2015)

Tracklist
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01. When You're Smiling
02. Nothing But the Best
03. Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered
04. On the Sunny Side of the Street
05. The Nearness of You
06. It's Only a Paper Moon
07. Make You Feel My Love
08. They Didn't Believe Me
09. Exactly Like You
10. Skylark
11. Nothing Can Change This Love
12. More
13. Angel Eyes

Matt Belsante performs like a seasoned entertainer well beyond his years. An old soul with a distinctly modern sound, you can hear the respect and appreciation for the material in his smooth as silk voice.

Maybe it was the old Sinatra records that he used to listen to with his Grandfather. Or maybe it was the steady diet of Coltrane, Ellington, Basie and Fitzgerald that he was fed at home. Whatever it was, Matt knew it was in his bones, a part of his DNA that would ultimately lead this young artist to pursue a dream of his own.

Just out of grade school, Matt picked up the tenor sax at the age of twelve and became a standard fixture in his middle school and high school jazz bands. But the sax wasn't his only instrument: he soon found he had a talent for using his voice. By his senior year of High School, Matt had won the prestigious Louis Armstrong Jazz Award in both the vocal and instrumental categories, the first student from his school to achieve such a feat.

That affirmation was a turning point for Matt, as he realized that his true passion was for using his voice to interpret a song. He grabbed a guitar, taught himself to play and began composing his own music the summer before he entered Nashville's Vanderbilt University. Before the first day of class commenced, the late Vanderbilt/Blair school of Music director, Billy Adair, had already recruited Matt to sing for the Blair Big Band. Soon, Matt was directing himself, leading the Dodecaphonics, an all-male a cappella group on campus.

The rising star eventually came to the attention of Nashville's well-heeled music industry following a performance of the Nashville Jazz Orchestra. That night, the NJO performed a Sinatra tribute, and Matt sang many as if he was channeling Sinatra himself. That performance landed him a televised appearance as a featured entertainer for the Miss Tennessee Scholarship Pageant 2006, which eventually lead him to Green Hill Music, where he recorded an album of Christmas classic (White Christmas), and followed that with a spectacular non-seasonal collection of standards (Blame It On My Youth). The titles quickly became two of the label's top selling releases.

CBL Properties and KMT Creative Group tapped Matt to become both the voice and the face of the campaign. As a result, Matt was featured in a series of spots on television, radio and internet.

Matt's latest collaboration with Green Hill, teams him with GRAMMY nominated producer, Jack Jezzro, acclaimed arranger and orchestrator, Jeff Steinberg and the exciting new jazz pianist, Mason Embry. A collection of traditional jazz and Big Band standards, as well a couple of pop and R&B classics, WHEN YOU RE SMILING boasts Matt's best vocal work to date.

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