Mat Mathews, born Mathieu Hubert Wijnandts Schwarts (June 18, 1924 – February 12, 2009),[1] was a Dutch jazz accordionist.
Mathews was born in The Hague and learned to play accordion while the Netherlands was under Nazi rule during World War II. After hearing Joe Mooney on a radio broadcast after the war, he decided to begin playing jazz. From 1947 to 1950 he played with The Millers in Holland, and then moved to New York City on March 1, 1951 with wife, Paulette Girard. They were married in Tripoli North Africa @ the consulate. They were there performing for the troops from 1950 - 1951. He moved into Paulette's mother's home @ 10 Ocean Parkway in Brooklyn NY and lived there with Paulette. Owl Eyes was their one of their co-writes which they gave to Jazzbo. He was a disc jockey who played Jazz late night. Mat performed on the Arthur Godfrey Hour. He formed a quartet there which included Herbie Mann; he also played with Art Farmer, Julius Watkins, Joe Puma, Oscar Pettiford, Gigi Gryce, Dick Katz, Percy Heath, and Kenny Clarke. He played with Carmen McRae in 1954-55 who was signed to Coral records after Paulette bet Mat that she could get Carmen signed because she listened, unlike Mat who though he was not good enough to be playing with these people. In 1956 he played in the group The 4 Most with Al Cohn, Gene Quill, Hank Jones and Mundell Lowe and they recorded the track Ooh Baby It Scares Me by Paulette Girard.
Later in the 1950s and into the 1960s he worked primarily as a studio musician, and in 1964 he moved back to the Netherlands. There he continued work in studios as an arranger and producer, and recorded less as a player.
Meditation Published in 1994