Mat Mathews

* Born 1924, The Hague, the Netherlands

One of the stalwart band of jazz accordionists. Mathews caught the jazz bug listening to broadcasts of American Armed Force Radio after World War Two. Working with the only instrument he knew, he started imitating solos Harry James, Coleman Hawkins, and others on his accordion. He was good enough to get work in nightclubs and other venues, and within a few years, was touring throughout Europe.