Researching David Matthews

Matthews was born in Sonora, Kentucky, United States. A graduate of the University of Cincinnati with a bachelor's degree in composition, he has composed television soundtracks as well as albums with the Manhattan Jazz Orchestra. He is the leader of the Manhattan Jazz Quintet. Matthews was also the leader of the musical group the Grodeck Whipperjenny.

In 1970, he began working as both an arranger and bandleader for James Brown. Matthews has worked with many musicians, including Bonnie Raitt, Buddy Rich, Idris Muhammad, and the Starland Vocal Band. He was staff arranger for Creed Taylor's CTI Records label in the mid-1970s, working on albums for artists such as George Benson, Esther Phillips, Grover Washington Jr., Hank Crawford, and Idris Muhammad. In 1978, Matthews arranged strings and orchestra, and played piano, on Nina Simone's album Baltimore.

Matthews' Jewish mother was schizophrenic and left his father when Matthews was only a few months old. As a result, Matthews was raised by his father, Ralph Matthews, Jr., an African American journalist who counted Malcolm X and James Baldwin among his friends. The Matthews family lived in the Maryland suburbs of Washington, D.C., but in 1977 moved next to the segregated Bolton Hill area of Baltimore, a tiny enclave of rich, white families, which was surrounded by the primarily black ghetto of west Baltimore. He describes himself as not initially fitting in with either the black or white children in his public elementary school, sparking his decision to "pass" as white. Matthews attended Baltimore City College High School where he attempted to "pass" as not only white, but Jewish. Lacking any cultural knowledge of Jewish life, Matthews was not accepted as a Jew and continued to search for an identity. Matthews' first book, Ace of Spades details this search, and is presented in a somewhat acerbic coming-of-age literary style.

Matthews currently resides in New York City and Los Angeles.

At his favoured distance, he won the consecutive national titles outdoors in 1994–5–6–7 and indoors in 1993–4–5, He won the bronze medal at the 1993 European Junior Championships, reached the semifinal of the 1996 Olympics and the heats of the 2000 Olympics. Matthews is the Irish record holder at 800m and 1000 m outdoors (senior and under-23).

In 2011, Matthews was appointed fitness coach of senior Cork county hurling team.