Jack Matthias

By 1941, James employed such arrangers as Jimmy Mundy, Gray Rains, Alvin (Leroy) Holmes, and Dave Matthews, but his chief arranger for several years was Jack Matthias. Very little is known about this...

Background: When Harry James decided to follow the lead of fellow bandleader Artie Shaw and add a string section, he had to build a book quickly. Besides originals, new pop songs and older songs (one...

A rip-snorting swing chart from the Harry James book. Trumpet Blues opens with a short band fanfare in half time, and then breaks into a driving swing boogie. The middle half-time Cantabile provides t...

Written by Jack Mattias (of Trumpet Blues & Cantabile fame) for the Harry James Orchestra, James Session is a big swing chart that features Trumpet, Drums, Trombone and Alto Sax. HJ recorded his chart...

Fox-trot. Arranged by Jack Matthias. Danish text by Erik Leth