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Matt Catingub is a musician of many talents: saxophonist, woodwind artist, conductor, pianist, vocalist, performer, director, composer and arranger. Now, he’s bringing all of those talents to take the helm of the Matt Catingub Orchestra of Hawaii. Born to parents of Polynesian island descent, he is the son of great jazz vocalist Mavis Rivers. Born in Samoa, and affectionately known as "Polynesia's First Lady Of Song," Rivers performed regularly with her son at her side, until the day of her passing in 1992. Matt was introduced to music through his mother's albums, and her Hawaiian and South Pacific influence, culturally and musically, will always be strong.
Matt has been the full-time conductor for the Honolulu Symphony Pops since 1998. Matt conducts, performs and does 90% of the arrangements and orchestrations played by the orchestra. Unique to the Honolulu Pops is his ability to completely arrange and orchestrate all of the music for artists who do not have an existing orchestra "book". This allows him to bring in world-class artists singers and musicians to take advantage of the one-of-a-kind opportunity to sing supported by a live orchestra. Rosemary Clooney performed the last concert of her career with the Honolulu Symphony Pops. This concert was recorded in 2002 in a tribute to the artist, and marked the first CD recorded by the Symphony Pops. Largely self-taught, Matt began learning the piano at age seven before switching his concentration to the alto saxophone at 16. A year later, he was asked to play at the Monterey Jazz Festival. At 18, Matt became the youngest member of the Louie Bellson Big Band, where he debuted his arranging career with his composition Explosion!, which made it onto the band’s next CD.
In 1983, age 21, Matt formed the Matt Catingub Big Band, securing the services of his mom as featured vocalist on the first album, “My Mommy and Me.” The album brought Matt and the band world popularity, culminating with a Royal Variety Performance for Queen Elizabeth and Prince Phillip in New Zealand.
Matt’s sophomore album, Hi-Tech Big Band, released in 1984, was a technological achievement: he recreated the sound of a big band by playing every instrument himself on different tracks. In the following years, education became an important part of Matt’s musical career. He led the jazz ensembles program at the Grove School of Music in LA and became the director of the New Zealand Youth Jazz Orchestra, and a clinician for Yamaha, regularly giving concerts and clinics. In 1999 Matt introduced his new band Big Kahuna And The Copa Cat Pack. Matt fronted the 12-piece band singing and playing, combining elements of Big Band and Hawaiian "Hapa-Haole" music into a unique package. The band released three albums, the last of which, called Sentimental Journey, and featuring Rosemary Clooney, was released in 2001 and received a Grammy nomination in 2002.
Matt crossed over into the film business when his music was heard in the Oscar-winning film A Beautiful Mind. Most recently, Matt wrote the music for George Clooney’s Goodnight and Good Luck. The movie features Matt's arrangements and tenor sax, as well as on-screen appearance as the leader of the band. The soundtrack went on to win a Grammy in 2005.
[edit] Sources
http://www.mcooh.com/
http://www.hawaiiromancefestival.com/
http://www.reuters.com/article/pressRelease/idUS249101+20-Feb-2008+PRN20080220
76.88.179.147 (talk) 03:19, 13 March 2008 (UTC)
Declined. We cannot accept unsourced suggestions or sources that are not reliable per the verifiability policy. Please provide reputable, third-party sources with your suggestions. Third party sources are needed both to establish the verifiability of the submission as well as its notability. All the sources used here are promotional material for the artist. There needs to be independant sources proposed, for example newspaper story. Graeme Bartlett (talk) 06:03, 13 March 2008 (UTC)