Bryan Anthony

From the first time we hear them, there are certain singers whom we feel that we know. As the intimacy of their delivery and subtle shading of their interpretation draw us in, a whole personality seems to take shape in our imagination. Bryan Anthony is that magnetic kind of singer. The Houston based artist has sung and studied professionally since his teens. Though he is only in his late twenties, he has performed the world over from the Acropolis in Greece to Carnegie Hall in New York City The Story So Far.... Bryan’s earliest musical influences came from listening to Broadway recordings and records of Frank Sinatra. He began singing in church choirs at age five and briefly played percussion in Jr. high. “I was given my first Sinatra album when I was fifteen. I would listen to those recordings for hours, studying his nuances and phrasing.” From 1992-1995, Bryan attended Klein High School in Spring, TX (singer Lyle Lovett and actress Sherry Stringfield are also Klein alumni) where he starred in many of the musical productions performed there. In both his junior and senior years, Bryan was named #1 baritone in the Texas All-state choir. Following graduation, Bryan entered the Manhattan School of Music in NYC, where he majored in classical voice and studied under the chairman of the voice department, Maitland Peters. During his freshman year, Bryan performed several times on New York’s restaurant row. It was at Don’t Tell Mamma’s cabaret and Danny’s Skylight Room, where Bryan thrilled audiences with his own style and interpretations of the great American standards. In the summer of 1997, after completing his sophomore year at M.S.M., Bryan accepted an offer from the Glenn Miller Orchestra to begin touring with them. He took a year off from school and began a very big growth process. The tour took him all over the U.S., Canada, the Bahamas, the Hawaiian Islands, and a month in Japan. “There are some things you just can’t be taught in a classroom. Often times, it just takes doing to learn. By performing on stage with a big band of that caliber, five nights a week, you really begin to grow as a musician. Larry O’Brien, who leads the band, was always there to give me advice. Much of what he conveyed to be went a long way. He gave me some of my greatest lessons about singing popular music in a traditional sense and about big band singing in general.” After a year and a half on the road, Bryan returned to M.S.M. to finish his degree. Back at school he went on to participate in opera productions including a production and recording of Leonard Bernstein’s Trouble in Tahiti. During the summers of his remaining two years as an undergraduate, Bryan returned to touring with the Glenn Miller Orchestra. It was the time he spent on the road with the band that really set him on his future path. “When I really discovered the American Songbook, I felt such a connection to the music. I have a very old soul…. I feel this music is America’s classical music.” In the fall of 2000, Bryan began a Masters program at New York University. This time, his concentration was in jazz and contemporary music studies. “I have never regretted studying classical music. The technical training I received at M.S.M. was such a strong vocal foundation for me. If I had studied jazz during my undergraduate years, I don’t think technically I would be the singer I am now.” It was at NYU that Bryan got the chance to work with some of the greatest faculty in jazz. During his two-year program, he studied with distinguished artists such as arranger Mike Abene, vocal coach Janet Lawson, pianist Pete Maliverni, and arranger/saxophonist Frank Foster. Bryan received his Master’s degree in May 2002. His first solo album project, Look At Me Now, was released in April 2002 too much acclaim, on Nujazzcity records (www.Nujazzcity.com). Mantis Evar, A&R man for Blue Note Records in New York, worked closely with Bryan to produce this album. “Anthony relies on style which emphasizes sentimentality, romance, and elegance as he delivers on this set of standards in a pleasant soothing manner. He also has a very personal way of delivering the tune, as if you were the sole person in the listening audience. He engages very direct and well. ‘Look At Me Now’ offers around 45 minutes of a captivating mix of vocal and instrumental work.” -David Nathan, Allaboutjazz.com It was in April 2002, that Bryan began his run in the off-Broadway production of Our Sinatra. This production concentrated on the musical legacy of the late Frank Sinatra. “This show was a dream for any singer who loves great music. To have the opportunity to sing the songs that Sinatra sang throughout his career was simply marvelous. The great thing about this show was the fact that we did not purely focus on the ‘popular Sinatra.’ We also had a chance to sing some of the rarer gems that he helped rescue.” Our Sinatra ran for an unprecedented two and a half years. This is practically unheard of for an off-Broadway show. Bryan toured the East Coast with the show for a short while after its New York closing. “Anthony 25, is the youngest in the cast, but he is the one with future star appeal. A tall, likeable guy with a huge satiny voice, he often attained a sexy, brash confidence and a plush romanticism that gave a hint of ‘Ol Blue Eyes.” -Daniel Gewertz, Boston Herald (Review from ‘Our Sinatra’) “I feel it is my duty to carry on this music to my generation. I want to give this music its proper treatment in a way that I feel is not found today. By that I mean good,” in the pocket” swing. On ballads, a very intimate style, almost a whisper at times, that shows both vulnerability and emotion. I try to live the lyrics I sing. I never sing songs that I cannot relate to. If I don’t believe what I am singing, there is no way the listening audience will believe it. It is a style of singing that I haven’t heard done in years, and I don’t want it to die.” “I try not to perform the much overdone ‘standard’ repertoire. So, I search through many songbooks trying to find some of the lost treasures you don’t hear recorded any more. That aspect is extremely important to me.” In addition to his own quartet, Bryan still performs regularly with many of the great big bands. In the past year, he has had several engagements with, The Glenn Miller Orchestra, the Nelson Riddle Orchestra, the new Gene Krupa Orchestra, and the Hunter Fuerste Orchestra. Bryan appears on the new Hunter Fuerste CD: Swing Out: The Big Band Show, recorded live in 2003, and is available at www.glennmillerorchestra.com Bryan's record "Songs For Dreamer's" will be available at www.krazycatrecords.com Please don’t try to compare this uncommon singer with the crooners of the past. “I know it’s usually meant as a compliment, but I think that people compare too much,” he confides. “I have never tried to emulate anyone. All I want to be is me, not the young this or that. Of course, the great predecessors who paved the way for us have influenced us all. I admire most all of them for their ability to maintain their individual ‘selves’ in their lives, as well as their careers. No matter what obstacles they faced, nothing stopped them from realizing their dreams.”