Stuart Colin Matthewman (born 18 August 1960), also known as Cottonbelly, is an English songwriter, record producer and musician. He is best known as the guitarist and saxophonist of the band Sade. His work as a member of Sade has earned him four

Grammy Awards The Grammy Awards, stylized as GRAMMY, and often referred to as The Grammys, are awards presented by The Recording Academy of the United States to recognize outstanding achievements in music. They are regarded by many as the most prestigious a ...

and a

Rock and Roll Hall of Fame The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (RRHOF), also simply referred to as the Rock Hall, is a museum and hall of fame located in downtown Cleveland, Ohio, United States, on the shore of Lake Erie. The museum documents the history of rock music and the ...

nomination in 2024. Matthewman has also worked extensively with

Maxwell Maxwell may refer to: People * Maxwell (surname), including a list of people and fictional characters with the name ** James Clerk Maxwell, mathematician and physicist * Justice Maxwell (disambiguation) * Maxwell baronets, in the Baronetage of N ...

, co-producing the majority of his albums. Additionally, he is also a member of Sweetback.

Early life and career

Matthewman was born on 18 August 1960 in

Hull Hull may refer to: Structures * The hull of an armored fighting vehicle, housing the chassis * Fuselage, of an aircraft * Hull (botany), the outer covering of seeds * Hull (watercraft), the body or frame of a sea-going craft * Submarine hull Ma ...

, East Riding of Yorkshire. In 1982, he relocated to London. Joining Latin funk band Pride, Matthewman met singer

Sade Adu Helen Folasade Adu ( ; born 16 January 1959), known professionally as Sade Adu or simply Sade ( or ), is a British-Nigerian singer and songwriter who is the lead vocalist of her band Sade. One of the most successful British female artists in ...

and they began writing songs together. Teaming with bassist Paul S. Denman and keyboardist Andrew Hale, they formed the band Sade. Sade signed with

Epic Records Epic Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America, the American division of Japanese conglomerate Sony is a Japanese multinational conglomerate (company), cong ...

in 1984. In addition to songwriting, Matthewman can be heard on saxophone, guitar, keyboards, and programming. He appeared on all of Sade's tours and albums: ''

Diamond Life ''Diamond Life'' is the debut studio album by English band Sade, released in the United Kingdom on 16 July 1984 by Epic Records and in the United States on 27 February 1985 by Portrait Records. After studying fashion design, and later modellin ...

'', ''

Promise A promise is a commitment by someone to do or not do something. As a noun ''promise'' means a declaration assuring that one will or will not do something. As a verb it means to commit oneself by a promise to do or give. It can also mean a capacity ...

'', ''

Stronger Than Pride ''Stronger Than Pride'' is the third studio album by English band Sade, released by Epic Records in the United Kingdom on 3 May 1988 and in the United States on 10 May 1988. In September 2018, ''Pitchfork'' placed the album at number 37 on its ...

'', ''

Love Deluxe ''Love Deluxe'' is the fourth studio album by English band Sade, released by Epic Records in the United Kingdom on 26 October 1992 and in the United States on 3 November 1992. Critical reception In a contemporary review for ''The Village Vo ...

Lovers Rock Lovers rock is a style of reggae music noted for its romantic sound and content. While love songs had been an important part of reggae since the late 1960s, the style was given a greater focus and a name in London in the mid-1970s.Larkin, Col ...

'', and '' Soldier of Love'' all of which went triple

platinum Platinum is a chemical element; it has Symbol (chemistry), symbol Pt and atomic number 78. It is a density, dense, malleable, ductility, ductile, highly unreactive, precious metal, precious, silverish-white transition metal. Its name origina ...

in the U.S. and have totalled sales over 40 million albums worldwide. In 1995, percussionist Karl Vanden Bossche introduced Matthewman to then unknown singer

. Matthewman co-produced, co-wrote, and played saxophone and guitar on Maxwell's albums: '' Maxwell's Urban Hang Suite'' (Columbia, 1996), '' Embrya'' (Columbia, 1998),''

Now Now most commonly refers to the present time. Now, NOW, or The Now may also refer to: Organizations * Natal Organisation of Women, a South African women's organization * National Organization for Women, an American feminist organization * Na ...

'' (Columbia, 2001) and '' blackSUMMERS'night'' (Columbia, 2016). In 1996, Matthewman along with Andrew Hale and Paul Spencer Denman formed the studio band Sweetback. Their work featured

instrumental An instrumental or instrumental song is music without any vocals, although it might include some inarticulate vocals, such as shouted backup vocals in a big band setting. Through Semantic change, semantic widening, a broader sense of the word s ...

songs and songs with guest vocalists. They released two albums, ''Sweetback (1996)'' and ''Stage 2'' (2004). Matthewman co-wrote, performed, and produced tracks on Santessa's 2000 trip-hop album, ''Delirium'', released on Sony. Using the pseudonym Cottonbelly, Matthewman released the dub/electronic album, ''X Amounts of Niceness'' in 2010 and produced remixes for artists. Working with

Paloma Faith Paloma Faith Blomfield (born 21 July 1981) is an English singer, songwriter, and actress. After signing with Epic Records in 2008, Faith released her debut album, '' Do You Want the Truth or Something Beautiful?'' (2009), which produced the UK ...

on her third studio album, Matthewman co-wrote two songs on her album ''

A Perfect Contradiction ''A Perfect Contradiction'' is the third studio album by English recording artist Paloma Faith, released by Sony Music Entertainment on 10 March 2014. Musically, the album is a pop album, with elements of R&B, jazz, soul, Motown and disco. The ...

'' released March 2014. In an interview with Pete Lewis for ''Blues and Soul'' print magazine, issue 1098, Paloma Faith discusses working with songwriters: "another person I really clicked with was Stuart Matthewman, who is Sade's co-writer. Basically I found him very easy to work with because to me he is really like a beautiful facilitator. In that I could just hum something to him and, though it could seem like a really shoddy idea, he would somehow immediately just play the right chords that would make it sound like something really special. So yeah, I think working with Stuart was actually one of the best co-writing experiences I've ever HAD - just because he works in very simple ways". Matthewman was also a member of the group Twin Danger, formed in 2011 with singer/writer Vanessa Bley, daughter of late jazz pianist Paul Bley and pioneer video artist Carol Goss. In 2014, Twin Danger signed to Decca Classics/Universal records and released their eponymously titled album in spring 2015. Vanessa Bley was killed in a car crash on 25 October 2019 in California. In 1996, Matthewman composed music for the short movie ''Bajo del Perro'' by Los Angeles based film makers Mike Polish and

Mark Polish Mark Polish and Michael Polish (born October 30, 1970), known informally as the Polish brothers, are American twin filmmakers. Michael usually directs their films, and Mark often has an acting role. Early lives The Polish brothers were born in ...

. He went on to compose the music scores for various films; with Maxwell music for the short film ''To Be A Black Man'' (1997), and '' Twin Falls Idaho (1999)'', '' Jackpot'' (2001), '' Northfork'' (2003), ''The Double'' (2005), '' The Astronaut Farmer'' (2006), ''

Life Support Life support comprises the treatments and techniques performed in an emergency in order to support life after the failure of one or more vital organs. Healthcare providers and emergency medical technicians are generally certified to perform bas ...

'' (2007), '' The Smell of Success'' (2009), ''Nona'' (2017) and short ''Erotic Dreams of the Chelsea Hotel'' (2017). Matthewman has discussed diverse musical influences including

Junior Walker Autry DeWalt Mixon Jr. (June 14, 1931 – November 23, 1995), known professionally as Junior Walker, was an American multi-instrumentalist (primarily saxophonist) and vocalist who recorded for Motown during the 1960s. He also performed as a sess ...

King Curtis Curtis Montgomery (February 7, 1934 – August 13, 1971), known professionally as King Curtis, was an American saxophonist who played rhythm and blues, jazz, and rock and roll. A bandleader, band member, and session musician, he was also a musi ...

Art Pepper Arthur Edward Pepper Jr. (September 1, 1925 – June 15, 1982) was an American jazz musician, most known as an alto saxophonist. He occasionally performed and recorded on tenor saxophone, clarinet (his first instrument) and bass clarinet. Active ...

Ernie Isley Ernest Isley (born March 7, 1952) is an American musician best known as a member of the musical ensemble The Isley Brothers, and also the splinter group Isley-Jasper-Isley. Biography Ernie was born in Cincinnati, where his older brothers formed ...

, Steve Jones,

Wah Wah Watson Melvin M. Ragin (December 8, 1950 – October 24, 2018), known professionally as Wah Wah Watson, was an American guitarist who was a member of the Funk Brothers, the studio band for Motown Records. He also worked extensively as a session musician ...

, Issac Hayes,

Bill Withers William Harrison Withers Jr. (July 4, 1938 – March 30, 2020) was an American singer and songwriter. He is known for having several hits over a career spanning 18 years, including "Ain't No Sunshine" (1971), "Grandma's Hands" (1971), "Use Me ( ...

, Lee Perry,

Tony Iommi Anthony Frank Iommi Jr. (born 19 February 1948) is an English musician. He co-founded the pioneering Heavy metal music, heavy metal band Black Sabbath, and was the band's guitarist, leader, primary composer, and sole continuous member for over ...

and

Gustav Mahler Gustav Mahler (; 7 July 1860 – 18 May 1911) was an Austro-Bohemian Romantic music, Romantic composer, and one of the leading conductors of his generation. As a composer he acted as a bridge between the 19th-century Austro-German tradition and ...

Discography

References

External links

Cottonbelly website
*
Interview with Stuart Matthewman
27 July 2011 * {{DEFAULTSORT:Matthewman, Stuart 1960 births Living people Brit Award winners English funk musicians English male songwriters Grammy Award winners Musicians from Kingston upon Hull Sade (band) members Sophisti-pop musicians Acid jazz musicians Chill-out musicians Downtempo musicians People educated at Hymers College