Our own jazz singer

If you're trying to convince your child not to quit playing a musical instrument, this might be the hook you need.

Try this line: "Don't quit the saxophone! You might be on iTunes some day."

That's happened to at least one graduate of both Gregory Middle School and Neuqua Valley High School in Naperville.

Anyone who spent time in the Neuqua auditorium at the beginning of the millennium will remember Matt Belsante playing saxophone with the jazz bands and, perhaps more vividly, singing with Wildscats and the Jazz Orchestra.

When my son told me Belsante's jazz Christmas CD is now available on iTunes, we clicked and listened and it all came right back to us.

What comes back to Belsante is playing saxophone at Gregory; he says he didn't really enjoy classical or traditional band music in middle school.

"I almost quit playing saxophone early on, but Miss Sykora (now Mrs. Emily Binder) got me excited about jazz and I stuck with it," Belsante wrote in an e-mail. "It was like a whole new door was opened to me when I started playing jazz."

He sang and acted "for fun" during those years. His first play was in sixth grade, the year before he moved to Naperville, but he didn't focus on acting.

Instead, he continued playing sax in high school and began listening to some jazz instrumentalists as well as vocalists such as Frank Sinatra and Ella Fitzgerald.

"My grandfather and dad always had Sinatra in their cars, so I was exposed to that kind of music pretty early," Belsante wrote. "I guess I was always singing."

But it wasn't until his junior year at Neuqua, after making the jazz orchestra and learning more about jazz from Jonathan Lauff, that he tried out for Wildscats, Neuqua's vocal jazz group.

"Mr. Lauff and Mrs. Binder helped to shape my love for jazz and taught me a great deal about structure and style," the 2003 Neuqua graduate wrote. "I continue to credit my vocal ability to the fact that I started as an instrumentalist.

"I really enjoyed getting to sing with a jazz group since I had already realized how much I loved jazz and it gave me a new avenue to perform."

Over the next two years in Wildscats, under the direction of Ryan Rimington and Jay Kellner, Belsante grew as a vocalist, participating in Neuqua's variety show, making all-district for jazz vocals and representing the school at an all-state vocal jazz event. That was a turning point for Belsante, when he realized singing would be in his future -- although probably as a hobby.

As a senior at Neuqua, he started singing with pal Kevin Haack playing guitar, but it was all "just for fun."

"Matt fast became a leader in our vocal jazz program due to his cultivated natural abilities, especially in the area of improvisation, creativity, and maybe most particularly due to his super-smooth style," Kellner said. "His instrumental jazz experience served as a great foundation for his vocal prowess.

"One of the best reasons Matt rose quickly to the top was that he was humble and unassuming about his talent. He garnered the respect of all his peers and each and every one looked forward to experiencing his solo work (as did his director).

"Matt served as a great example to our jazz vocalists at a time when we were just growing to a quality program."

Belsante went to Vanderbilt University and majored in engineering, with plans to go to law school after graduating in December 2006. Between classes, he taught himself to play guitar and began writing songs.

Belsante was involved in musical activities at Vanderbilt, singing with an a cappella group and a jazz band. He guesses he was singing 10 to 15 hours a week, either in rehearsals or performing in Nashville, one of the world's best music cities.

"But it wasn't until my junior year of college that I realized how important music is to me and how I would be doing myself a disservice if I didn't give it a shot as a career," Belsante wrote. "It was always something I loved, but it never seemed to be a very practical career choice, so I never really considered it."

Billy Adair, director of the Blair School of Music Big Band, encouraged Belsante and helped him get a job singing with the Nashville Jazz Orchestra for a Frank Sinatra tribute concert. His success at the event put him in contact with Chris McDonald, who eventually produced the Christmas CD.

(But, first, McDonald asked Belsante to entertain for the 2006 Miss Tennessee Pageant, where McDonald's band was performing.)

McDonald introduced Belsante to Green Hill Productions in Nashville, where production began last January on the Christmas recording.

"It was an amazing and very surreal experience to sit back in the control room of a professional studio and think to myself, 'I'm making a record with some of the best musicians in Nashville and this is my job,' " wrote the 23-year-old. "I really couldn't ask for more."

Well, sure he could -- some great "buzz."

"Being able to sustain a career in the music business," he said, "would be a dream come true."

FYI

Matt Belsante's Christmas CD is available on iTunes and online at Amazon.com and greenhillmusic.com.

His self-produced recording, "Inside My Mind," is available at awarestore.com.