This post is a tribute to the eminent jazz accordionist Mat Mathews, who passed away last month. Mathews, born in the Netherlands, came to the US in 1952, and quickly began making records.
I first encountered him on some of Carmen McRae's earliest records. He made quite a few under his own name as well, and four with the New York Jazz Quartet. That group also included flutist Herbie Mann, guitarist Joe Puma, and bassist Whitey Mitchell.
The NY Jazz Quartet recorded this Latin-inflected record in 1956, under the vaguely distasteful title "Goes Native." A less likely group for this concept could hardly be found (see photo below). And in truth the results are not nearly as loose as they might have been. But the results are unusual and enjoyable - as are all Mathews' recordings that I have heard.
