Matt Dennis

US-American Jazz-pianist, singer, arranger and songwriter. Born: 11 February 1914 in Seattle, Washington, USA. Died: 21 June 2002 (age of 88) in Riverside, California, USA. Married to singer Virginia Maxey. Brother of Jo Dennis. He was exposed to music early as his mother was a violinist and his father a singer in vaudeville. In 1933, stilll a teenager, he joined Horace Heidt's Orchestra as a vocalist and pianist. Later on, he formed his own band, with Dick Haymes as vocalist. During World War II, Dennis served as a singer-vocalist and arranger for the U.S. Army Air Forces’ Radio Production Unit and played with the Glenn Miller Air Force Band after it returned from Europe. Dennis charted 6 times on the U.S. charts between 1940 and 1981, with his highest charted song being "Let's Get Away from It All (Parts 1 & 2)" by Tommy Dorsey and His Orchestra. He was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2010. Dennis' chief collaborator was lyricist Tom Adair. He was an accomplished jazz pianist and wrote two tutorials, "Introduction to the Blues" and "You Can Teach Yourself Piano", designed to teach as well as to encourage improvisation.