Llewellyn Steury Matthews

Maestro Llewellyn Steury Matthews

March 21, 1946 - Augu.4, 2024

Llew Matthews passed away peacefully Sunday, August 4, 2024 surrounded by family and friends. Llew was born in Harlem, NY to a mother from Czechoslovakia and an African-American father. He developed an interest in music at a young age and began playing a ukulele before focusing on the trumpet and french horn. Llew attended the New York High School of Music and Art, took up piano, and developed an interest in composing. In 1963, he was admitted to the prestigious New York School of Music and became part of the New York jazz scene.

During the Vietnam War, Llew joined the Air Force and served for eight years traveling the world performing for troops. In the 1970s, he became "Chief arranger" for the U.S. Armed Forces Bicentennial Band, a 67-piece band with an accompanying 24-member chorus. He arranged music for the inauguration of President Jimmy Carter and tunes continue to be played presently.

After his Military Service, Llew began a new musical career teaching at UCLA, working with many legendary musicians like Lena Horn and the Count Basie Orchestra, before partnering with singer Nancy Wilson for two decades. While working with Nancy, Llew received two Grammy Awards as Arranger and Musician for the Best Jass Vocal Album of the Year.

A series of health issues ended Llew's music career, but he lived his last years happy and comfortable with his wife, Denyee, who dedicated her life to caring for him.

They moved to Michigan before coming to Twin Falls, Idaho, where Denyee joined the College of Southern Idaho faculty. They enjoyed coffee and pleasant conversation every morning before work, watched Star Trek together in the afternoon, and shared dinner and more stimulating dialogue in the evening.

Llew Matthews was much more than a musical genius. He was also a father, husband, friend, and an extremely kind gentleman. Moreover, he was a thoughtful philosopher and explained his view of music and life in a 1995 interview . . . "Music has always fascinated me and of and all the arts it spoke to me the loudest. It's such an ambiguous, amorphous entity, there is nothing concrete. Once it goes it's gone. It occupies space that one brief moment, and then we just have memories of it."

Llew is preceded in death by his father, Ernest Llewellyn Matthews, his mother Shirley Merhaut, and wife, Caroline Nichols. He is survived by Daniel "Spencer" Haasenritter and wife, Denyee Matthews.

We miss you Llew, but you will always live in our music and our memories.

Llew will be interred at the Snake River Canyon National Cemetery in Buhl, Idaho.