The band, which was recently reformed with front man Mark Reilly, keyboardist Danny White and singer Basia, will play material from their new album ?Matt?s Mood? as well as older hits.
The group was formed in the early 80s after Reilly teamed up with White, the former keyboardist for the trend-setting band Blue Rondo A La Turk. In search of a singer, White brought Polish-born Basia Trzetrzelewska, who uses Basia as her stage name, to the group. Basia?s husky, Brazilian-inflected vocal tones provided the perfect foil for Reilly?s more fat, pop delivery.
The band found fame in 1984 with a jazzy Latin pop sound and the hit single ?Get Out of Your Lazy Bed?. But, after success with the single "Half a Minute", the group went their separate ways. White and Basia released five albums under the name Basia to huge acclaim, especially in the US and Asia, while Reilly recruited pianist Mark Fisher in 1985 and had continuing success under the Matt Bianco banner, going on to release a further seven albums.
Reilly and White met again in 2004. ?It was funny, we?d all been thinking about each other,? Reilly says on the group?s official website. ?Danny came down to my studio to say hello one day and we just took it from there.? The two talked about reforming and convinced Basia of the idea. ?Matt?s Mood? is a result of their collaboration.
?We listened to our debut and couldn?t get over how fresh and immediate it still sounded. It seemed to fit in better now with the surrounding climate than it did at the time,? says Reilly. With the likes of Jamie Cullum, Diana Krall and Norah Jones?s new jazz sounds high in the UK charts, it seems Matt Bianco fell foul of being ahead of their time.
An inspiring factor in the making of the new album was the inclusion of saxophonist Ronnie Ross, whose playing was an integral part of the sound of their debut album, but who sadly died over a decade ago.
?Ronnie had a wonderful jazz pedigree and when he died we realised just how under-appreciated he was. Although many people would have heard him on Lou Reed?s "Walk on the Wild Side", we believe he deserves more exposure. We had some unused recordings of him which we incorporated into three new songs, "Ronnie?s Samba", "La Luna" and "Slip & Sliding,? explains White.
Matt Bianco will bring hits such as ?Get Out Of Your Lazy Bed?, ?Sneaking Out The Back Door? and ?Whose Side Are You On? to the Open Stage on Budapest?s Margaret Island on July 20.
Source: Port.hu/ www.emarcy.com/bianco/
