era. Matt regularly performs at top jazz venues in Los Angeles with his own Big Little Band, including Herb Alpert’s Vibrato, Upstairs at Vitello’s and The Dresden Room.
More recently, Forbes had the pleasure of opening for the Emmy award-winning Seth MacFarlane (creator and star of Family Guy, Ted) at Catalina Jazz Club in Hollywood. Matt also regularly fronts the acclaimed 22-piece Influence Jazz Orchestra, led by the Grammy® and Emmy-nominated composer, Ron Jones (Family Guy, American Dad, Star
Trek: The Next Generation). He is a graduate of NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts.
For the latest music, news and live dates, please visit the Official Matt Forbes Facebook Page: WWW.FACEBOOK.COM/MATTFORBESLIVE
ALBUMS ARE available for purchase worldwide via Amazon.com & iTunes
Coulda Woulda Shoulda
2015
Coulda Woulda Shoulda is the full-length debut album from 27 year-old Canadian pop crooner, Matt Forbes. Hailed for his hip, youthful approach to 'vintage pop', Coulda Woulda Shoulda evokes the immediacy, sophistication and excitement of those classic pop albums of yore — all while giving audiences a fresh contemporary sound that's all his own. Matt's soulful vocals and unmistakable sound are wowing the "millennials" of his own generation with songs made popular decades before they were born.
Bringing a unique brand of contemporary cool to these classics, Matt breathes new life into such familiar pop hits as 'Beyond The Sea', 'I Get A Kick Out of You', 'The Good Life', 'Somethin' Stupid' and 'Witchcraft' — while reimagining more obscure gems like 'Gloomy Sunday', 'Artificial Flowers', 'Once Upon a Time' and 'Some of These Days'. Forbes bookends the album much the same way it begins, with another Charles Trenet classic —'Que reste-t-il de nos amours?' — a delicate reimagining of the classic French hit, more commonly known to English audiences as 'I Wish You Love'.
Coulda Woulda Shoulda was recorded at the historic Capitol Studios in Hollywood, California, and features original arrangements by acclaimed London-based composer and arranger Callum Au, whose recent work includes arranging for the BBC Big Band and GRAMMY nominee Jamie Cullum. Matt also enlisted the industry's top session musicians to join him on the recording — including the legendary Gene 'Cip' Cipriano (the most recorded woodwind player in the history of recorded music) Carl Saunders, Doug Webb, John Chiodini, Steve Hughes, Ken Wild, Alan Steinberger and Jake Reed. Matt's debut EP, The Twelve Minutes of Christmas, released in November 2014, received wide critical acclaim and airplay across the US, Canada and United Kingdom, where it was featured prominently on programs forCBS Radio, CBC Radio and BBC Radio 2.
The Twelve Minutes Of Christmas
2014
The Twelve Minutes of Christmas is the debut release from the 26 year-old Canadian pop crooner, Matt Forbes. Hailed for his hip, youthful approach to the Great American Songbook, Forbes recorded this album of holiday favorites at the world-famous Capitol Studios in Hollywood. The Twelve Minutes of Christmas features brand-new arrangements of four timeless classics, performed by a group of world-class, first-call musicians. In reimagining these songs for 2014, Forbes enlisted the talents of acclaimed composer/arranger, Callum Au, whose recent assignments have included arranging for the BBC Big Band, RTE Concert Orchestra, Metropole Orkest and Grammy® nominee, Jamie Cullum.
The EP kicks off with a hard-swinging (and decidedly-cheeky) rendering of Irving Berlin's 'White Christmas', which then leads into a wistful, contemporary reimagining of Hugh Martin and Ralph Blane's, 'Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas'. Jule Styne and Sammy Cahn's lesser-known gem, 'The Christmas Waltz' is given a warm, unabashedly nostalgic treatment here while Forbes concludes the EP by paying homage to that grandfather of all Christmas music, Bing Crosby, with R. Alex Anderson s charming and ever-catchy, 'Mele Kalikimaka'.
In a market over-saturated with Christmas releases from would-be pop stars, Forbes has managed to craft an album that cuts through the noise and evokes those classic Christmas albums of yore, all while giving audiences a fresh contemporary sound that's all his own.