Smooth Operator: Sade Guitarist Stuart Matthewman Debuts New Band Twin Danger

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What’s your second musical act when your first record is one of the most successful debut albums of all time? Very few musicians get to ask themselves this question but such is the quandary of Grammy winning songwriter and musician Stuart Matthewman of famed UK pop soul world beat wonders Sade. His new musical venture Twin Danger has just been signed to Decca Records/Universal Music Classics and is performing tonight at New York’s Marquee, in a special showcase hosted by neo-soul heartthrob Maxwell. The band also features Vanessa Bley on lead vocals and blends noir jazz arrangements with deep grooves that will appeal to both pop fans and esoteric music gourmets. Says Matthewman of the group’s sound “It’s dark, sexy… it’s jazzy because of the instrumentation, but it’s not necessarily jazz. There aren’t any long, extended solos. It’s just beautiful songs.”

Following the success of Sade’s 1984 debut album Diamond Life, Matthewman moved from his native England to New York City where he says he has always felt at home. Twin Danger came together after he and Bley met through a mutual friend. According to Matthewman “She said to us ‘You two should meet. You’re both nuts.’ So we hung out and we have this odd kind of taste in music. From Black Sabbath to Chet Baker to classical and film music.” Initially just like-minded musical friends, their artistic collaboration started incidentally. “One day I was messing around on the guitar and did these kind of odd chords…nothing you could write a song out of” explains Matthewman, “I was talking to Vanessa and she said, ‘Send them over. I’ll do something.’ So I sent it to her and an hour later she came up with this beautiful song called “Just Because.” And then we did another one and another. We weren’t thinking it out. We weren’t going for a particular sound or anything. It just happened the way it did.”

[caption id="attachment_292769" align="aligncenter" width="615"] Twin Danger's Stuart Matthewman and Vanessa Bley.[/caption]

Soul Suite Presents: Hosted by MAXWELL Featuring: Twin Danger Live Jazz Concert, DJ Jus Ske and DJ The Misshapes happens tonight at The Marquee at 289 10th Avenue in New York City.