- Matt Dusk
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Matt Dusk 
Dusk in concert in July 2010Background information Born November 19, 1978 Origin Toronto, Ontario, Canada Genres Jazz Years active 1999–present Labels Universal Records Website MattDusk.com Matthew-Aaron Dusk (born November 19, 1978 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada) is a Canadian jazz musician / vocalist. He currently has two certified gold albums: Two Shots and Good News, and three number one radio hits: "Back in Town," "All About Me", and "Good News."
Contents
Biography
From an early age, Matt Dusk wanted to become a performer. At the age of seven, he was accepted into St. Michael's Choir School, where he remained for eleven years. Originally Dusk performed opera and classical music but after hearing Tony Bennett and Sarah Vaughan records at the age of 17 he began to change his musical style and direction. In 1998, he won the top spot in the Canadian National Exhibition Rising Star Competition, beating out 654 contestants. However, Dusk was on a path to take over the family business, and in 1998 went to Toronto's York University to study economics. After spending a year in the economics department, Dusk could not forget his passion for music and in 1999 changed programs to study for a BFA in music, where his emphasis was squarely on jazz and popular music. He studied jazz theory with John Gittins, jazz vocal with Bob Fenton, and attended masterclasses with Oscar Peterson. Dusk was also awarded the university’s Oscar Peterson Scholarship and in 2002 graduated with an honors degree in music.
Before Dusk secured a major record deal, he recorded four independent CDs (The Way It Is being the only one re-released thus far), and many of his songs became popular on MP3 websites. In March 2003, he signed a major record deal with Decca Records. In 2004 Dusk was invited to the Golden Nugget Casino in Las Vegas to perform as in-house entertainer throughout the filming of Mark Burnett's reality TV show The Casino on FOX.
His debut album Two Shots was released on June 5, 2004 and went gold in Canada. The album produced the hit single, "Two Shots of Happy, One Shot of Sad", which was written by Bono and The Edge from the Irish rock band U2. This song was also the theme song to The Casino show. Dusk followed up his debut album with a holiday album entitled "Peace On Earth" which was released November 30, 2005.
In January 2006, Dusk traveled to Los Angeles to record his second album Back In Town at Capitol Records fabled Studio A. Here, Dusk recorded with a 58 piece orchestra. Back In Town features a mix of jazz standards and originals, and was released in June 2006. As a promotion, Matt included personally signed liner notes with every pre-ordered copy of this album.
In October 2007, the lead single Back In Town reached Number 1 on the Japanese pop radio charts. Matt Dusk is the first male jazz artist in Japanese history to reach Number one on the pop radio charts. This is his second number one hit, the first being 'All About Me' also from the record Back In Town which was achieved in Canada in late 2006.
In March 2008, Dusk announced the recording of a new album titled Good News. This album was released on October 27, 2009 in Poland and Canada and Holland (2010) and France (2011). The album features a new direction that vocally pays tribute to the style of swing/crooner jazz era (1940s-1960s) however is produced in a contemporary way. The album is a collection of original material and international #1 hits from around the world. In late 2009, Good News was certified 'gold' in Poland. In 2009 his track "Feels Good" was released as dance hit single remade and remixed by Toronto Electronic Production duo Stereo Martini. In September 2010, the title track Good News reached #1 on the charts of French radio station Europe 1.
In March 2010, Dusk recorded the soundtrack to the TV series Call Me Fitz featuring Jason Priestly. The series began airing in Canada on September 18, 2010 on HBO, followed by world releases soon after.
On August 25, 2010, Dusk shot a live DVD concert special for PBS which began to air across America December 2010, and across the world in 2011. The concert was recorded live at the Rio All Suite Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada with a 17 piece big band. The DVD was also released as a double CD/DVD.
Dusk is currently working on his latest album which will be released in 2012.
Discography
- The Way It Is (2001)
- Two Shots (2004)
- Peace on Earth (2005)
- Back in Town (2006)
- Good News (2009)
- Live from Las Vegas (2010)
See also
References
- All Music Biography - last accessed on July 16, 2011
External links
- MattDusk.com – official website.
- Matt Dusk Interview on NotableInterviews.com
- myspace.com/MattDuskOnline – The official MySpace page of the MattDuskOnline Fansite!
Categories:- 1978 births
- Canadian male singers
- Canadian jazz singers
- Living people
- Musicians from Toronto
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