Biography
Stuart Matthewman stands out as a Grammy-winning songwriter, musician, and producer deeply embedded in Sade’s creative core. The multi-instrumentalist contributes saxophone, guitar, keyboards, and MIDI programming across every Sade release, from Diamond Life through Promise, Stronger Than Pride, Love Deluxe, and Best of Sade. Each of these titles achieved triple-platinum status in the United States while collectively surpassing fifty million albums sold worldwide. All five were digitally remastered and reissued in November 2000 alongside Sade’s first twenty-first-century project, Lovers Rock. Additional Sade-related projects include the EP Remix Deluxe and a 1994 concert video. Beyond the band, Matthewman has written and produced material for Maxwell, his own group Sweetback, and the Twin Falls Idaho film soundtrack.
Born August 18, 1960, in Hull, North Yorkshire, England, Matthewman began on clarinet during childhood before adding saxophone and guitar as a teenager. His listening references span Jr. Walker, King Curtis, Art Pepper, Gato Barbieri, Ernie Isley, Johnny “Guitar” Watson, Wah Wah Watson, Issac Hayes, Bill Withers, Lee Perry, and Gustav Mahler. Relocating to London in 1982, he joined the Latin funk ensemble Pride, where he encountered singer/songwriter Sade Adu. The pair began co-writing, and together with Pride bandmate Paul S. Denman plus keyboardist Andrew Hale they assembled the group Sade.
Epic Records’ U.K. division signed the band in 1984; under producer Robin Millar and engineer/producer Mike Pela, the debut Diamond Life launched an extended hit streak. Matthewman first connected with vocalist Maxwell in 1995 through percussionist Karl Vanden Bossche. He wrote and produced the tracks “Welcome,” “Lonely’s the Only,” and “Whenever Wherever Whatever,” while also performing saxophone and guitar on Maxwell’s multi-platinum Columbia debut Urban Hang Suite. Further collaborations with the singer encompassed the follow-up Embrya and the track “Seguranca” on the 1996 Verve various-artists collection Red Hot + Rio. With Sade colleagues Andrew Hale and Paul S. Denman, Matthewman recorded Sweetback’s self-titled debut, blending ambient dub, trip-hop, retro soul, and acid jazz. The charting single “You Will Rise,” featuring former Groove Theory vocalist Amel Larrieux, emerged as a favored steppers cut alongside other album tracks.
On October 31, 2000, Boulder CO-based What Are Records released the Matthewman-composed soundtrack to the independent feature Twin Falls Idaho. Recorded with the New York Philharmonic, the album presents an eccentric palette: “When Did You Leave Heaven,” sung by Lisa Ekdahl, evokes Billie Holliday, while “Mystery Dub” and “Edge Test 1” echo Sweetback’s aesthetic. “Don’t Grow,” featuring Mark Anthony Thompson, offers a pop/rock ballad.
Matthewman has supplied remixes for Edge Records, React Records, and Quango Records—including the dub remix of Gregory Issacs’ “Night Nurse”—as well as film scores for Sea of Love, Indecent Proposal, Bajo Del Perro, and To Be a Black Man with Samuel L. Jackson. Throughout 2000 he produced albums for newcomers Olu and Santessa while also recording under the Cottonbelly alias.
Born August 18, 1960, in Hull, North Yorkshire, England, Matthewman began on clarinet during childhood before adding saxophone and guitar as a teenager. His listening references span Jr. Walker, King Curtis, Art Pepper, Gato Barbieri, Ernie Isley, Johnny “Guitar” Watson, Wah Wah Watson, Issac Hayes, Bill Withers, Lee Perry, and Gustav Mahler. Relocating to London in 1982, he joined the Latin funk ensemble Pride, where he encountered singer/songwriter Sade Adu. The pair began co-writing, and together with Pride bandmate Paul S. Denman plus keyboardist Andrew Hale they assembled the group Sade.
Epic Records’ U.K. division signed the band in 1984; under producer Robin Millar and engineer/producer Mike Pela, the debut Diamond Life launched an extended hit streak. Matthewman first connected with vocalist Maxwell in 1995 through percussionist Karl Vanden Bossche. He wrote and produced the tracks “Welcome,” “Lonely’s the Only,” and “Whenever Wherever Whatever,” while also performing saxophone and guitar on Maxwell’s multi-platinum Columbia debut Urban Hang Suite. Further collaborations with the singer encompassed the follow-up Embrya and the track “Seguranca” on the 1996 Verve various-artists collection Red Hot + Rio. With Sade colleagues Andrew Hale and Paul S. Denman, Matthewman recorded Sweetback’s self-titled debut, blending ambient dub, trip-hop, retro soul, and acid jazz. The charting single “You Will Rise,” featuring former Groove Theory vocalist Amel Larrieux, emerged as a favored steppers cut alongside other album tracks.
On October 31, 2000, Boulder CO-based What Are Records released the Matthewman-composed soundtrack to the independent feature Twin Falls Idaho. Recorded with the New York Philharmonic, the album presents an eccentric palette: “When Did You Leave Heaven,” sung by Lisa Ekdahl, evokes Billie Holliday, while “Mystery Dub” and “Edge Test 1” echo Sweetback’s aesthetic. “Don’t Grow,” featuring Mark Anthony Thompson, offers a pop/rock ballad.
Matthewman has supplied remixes for Edge Records, React Records, and Quango Records—including the dub remix of Gregory Issacs’ “Night Nurse”—as well as film scores for Sea of Love, Indecent Proposal, Bajo Del Perro, and To Be a Black Man with Samuel L. Jackson. Throughout 2000 he produced albums for newcomers Olu and Santessa while also recording under the Cottonbelly alias.
Albums
