Matt Bianco

Matt Bianco

Matt Bianco is a British group formed in 1982 and active to the present day. The band is associated with bossa nova, jazz, Latin jazz, pop, sophisti-pop and soul, and it becomes known for a jazzy, Latin-flavoured sound that helps define the new jazz pop style alongside acts such as Working Week, Sade, Everything but the Girl and The Style Council.

Origins and early line-up

The group begins with Mark Reilly on vocals, Danny White on keyboards and Kito Poncioni on bass, emerging from the remains of the abandoned art pop project Blue Rondo á la Turk. The name Matt Bianco refers not to a real person but to a fictional spy character, created as a reference to television themes and film scores. For the first album, Whose Side Are You On?, the group brings in Polish vocalist Basia Trzetrzelewska, whose vocal arrangements add a stronger jazz character to the recordings.

The early singles Get Out of Your Lazy Bed and Half a Minute help make the group one of the biggest European acts in 1984. Phil Harding works on the recordings and becomes associated with the group’s sound.

Change of line-up and mid-1980s success

After the first album, Basia Trzetrzelewska and Danny White leave to pursue a solo career, and Mark Reilly continues with ex-Wham keyboard player and session musician Mark Fisher. This new partnership produces the self-titled Matt Bianco album and shifts the sound towards a more contemporary, synthesizer-led style. The band uses more electronic instrumentation, with the Yamaha DX-7 featuring prominently, while still working with studio musicians such as Ronnie Ross.

Following the first album, the group tours Europe with a 13-piece band and performs to a combined audience of more than 250,000 people. Warner Brothers then promotes the band in the United States and brings in Emilio Estefan to produce some tracks for Indigo. Singles from this period include Don’t Blame It on That Girl and Good Times, while Wap-Bam-Boogie achieves stronger success on the dance charts. Another Warner Brothers album, Samba in Your Casa, follows.

Independent releases and later work

Reilly and Fisher later leave Warner Brothers and begin recording in their own studios, licensing albums to independent distributors in different territories. This period brings releases including Another Time Another Place, Gran Via, World Go Round, A/Collection, Rico and Echoes. Although mainstream success becomes harder to sustain, the group builds a strong audience in Japan and elsewhere in Asia, with releases through labels such as ZYX Music, Intercord and Victor Entertainment.

Reunion and later albums

In 2003, Basia Trzetrzelewska and Danny White rejoin Mark Reilly for a reunion of the original line-up, and the group signs to Emarcy. The following year they release Matt’s Mood, a set of adult-contemporary and jazz-oriented songs that connects with the style of the first album. After that, Basia and White leave again, and Reilly and Fisher continue as a duo with Hi-Fi Bossanova. The duo later releases Hideaway, the group’s 12th album.