The UK group Matt Bianco is ready to perform at the Cape Town International Jazz Festival on Friday night.
The group was formed in 1982 by vocalist Mark Reilly, Danny White on the keyboard and the late bass player Kito Poncioni.
They were all originally members of the band Blue Rondo A La Turk, they are known for their jazz, Latin style music.
Recently, Reilly was interviewed by Magic 828’s Steve Taylor. You can click right here to listen to the interview.
For their first album "Whose Side Are You On?" they hired Polish vocalist Basia Trzetrzelewska.
Her vocal arrangements gave the album a jazzy dimension that Reilly and White couldn't anticipate and hits like "Get Out of Your Lazy Bed" and "Half a Minute" turned Matt Bianco into one of the biggest acts of the 1980s .
In 1988, they hired Gloria Estefan's husband and producer Emilio Estefan and recorded the album "Indigo", which included the singles "Don't Blame It On That Girl" and "Good Times".
Another song "Wap Bam Boogie" became European dance single of the year.
The bands name suggests that Matt Bianco is a personal name, but Matt Bianco is a fictitious character they invented from the spy, secret agent world that laid the concept for their music and imagery.
"We loved spy TV themes and film scores from the 50s/60s/70s" said Mark Reilly
Matt Bianco will be performing at the Cape Town International Jazz Festival tonight at 8pm. The seven piece band will be playing most of their hits.
IOL