Matt Dennett

Jazz is the centre of it. Matt Dennett is a Canberra pianist with more than three hundred songs ready to go, and requests get met with or without notice, which tells you how deep the repertoire runs. Twenties, thirties and forties jazz sits alongside Brubeck, Herbie Hancock, Fats Waller and Gershwin. Then there's Chopin, Debussy, Satie and Schubert when a room wants classical. Then Edith Piaf, Django Reinhardt and gypsy jazz, and since he's an accordionist too, the French material is the real thing rather than piano doing an impression of it. Billy Joel, Elton John, Queen and The Beatles cover the popular end. He works solo, in a duo, and with trio and band line-ups including big band. Formal dress, arrives up to an hour early, and needs either a tuned piano or a power point.