by Danni Chaso, Foreign Desk Editor

Ronnie Scott’s Jazz Club

Ronnie Scott’s Jazz Club, based in the heart of London’s Soho, was established in 1959 when the legendary saxophonist opened the doors to a small basement club. It has become one of the most famous jazz venues in the world, seeing some of the biggest names perform there from the likes of Count Basie, Ella Fitzgerald and Sarah Vaughan, to most recently Frank Sinatra Jr. and Jane Monheit.  It’s amazing to see the many photos hanging on the walls of the great jazz and blues artists that have graced the stage there. It’s also a place that debuts many rising stars who go on to become the next big thing on the jazz scene.  It you want to soak  up the historic atmosphere of Ronnie Scott’s, plus enjoy some great music, then visit their website here to view the events calendar, which includes performing artist and friend of MITM Curtis Stigers performing there in June 2015.

Anthony Strong at Ronnie Scott’s, May 24, 2015

I’ve been listening to MITM for the past 7 years and one of the things I love about the station is that alongside the classic artists such as Frank Sinatra and Ella Fitzgerald, Brad also introduces us to new artists carrying the torch for the Great American Songbook who continue to record this music for many generations to come.

One such artist is James Torme (Mel Torme’s son). In December 2013, I booked tickets to see James’ Christmas show where he was performing with a singer-pianist named Anthony Strong.  I hadn’t heard of Anthony before, so I looked him up on YouTube and straight away I fell in love with his style of singing the Standards.  After the show, I mentioned to James that Anthony would be a great artist for MITM, and subsequently both James and I sent Brad a note introducing him. I’m pleased to say that Brad loved him too and the rest, as they say, is history, with Anthony now a regular on the MITM playlist.

Let’s start with a little background on Anthony (from his website bio):  Hailed as “England’s new jazz superstar”, a support slot with the legendary BB King and an EP release, “De-lovely”, which reached #1 on the UK jazz charts saw singer-pianist Anthony Strong grab the attention of some of the world’s top record labels in early 2012. He eventually signed a worldwide recording deal with iconic French label Naïve. His last album, ‘Stepping Out’, reached #1 on the US iTunes Jazz Charts. He has slowly but steadily built a touring capability that has so far reached 26 countries across 4 continents.

As soon as Anthony announced that he’d be performing at Ronnie Scott’s on May 24, I knew that it was a must see and he certainly didn’t disappoint.  Having released his new album, “On a Clear Day” a week prior, this was his UK album launch and he opened the show with the title track.  This was followed by other well-known standards from the album, bringing his unique style to each song making them his own such as; “Whatever Lola Wants,”  “Unforgettable” and the Cole Porter song, “What Is This Thing Called Love”.  Anthony is also a talented pianist and sitting up front I got a great view of him whizzing his hands across the piano and pounding those keys to produce such melodic sounds, along with his four-piece band containing a saxophonist, trumpeter, bassist and drummer.

Chet Baker is one of Anthony’s top 5 influences and this is reflected with the song “The More I See You”. Another artist he admires is Stevie Wonder and he performed a big band cover of Stevie’s hit “Higher Ground.”  It was such a great version that the guy sitting at the table next to me got carried away and was singing along loudly.    

Anthony also performed songs from his previous album “Stepping Out”, with hits such as; “Cheek to Cheek,” which he referred to as being a “speed remix” as it was up-tempo with a great bass line; as well as “Witchcraft”; “My Foolish Heart”; “Too Darn Hot”; and “Luck Be a Lady”.

There was also a version of “De-Lovely”, which was the title track to Anthony’s 2011 EP, plus a couple of songs which he hasn’t recorded yet such as “Hallelujah, I Love Her So” (originally by Ray Charles) and “They Can’t Take That Away from Me”.  Anthony has several original songs on his new album which he co-wrote with lyricist, Guy Mathers, these include; “The Outgoing Administration” which he performed with just the piano as backing; “That Kind of Guy”; and even though it was not in his set list for this show, the song “When It Moves You” is one of my favorites.

I enjoyed every second of the 21 songs Anthony performed today and I encourage you all to check out Anthony’s album, “On a Clear Day” which is available to buy in the UK and Europe from iTunes and Amazon, plus it will be released in the U.S. on June 16.  To see his upcoming show schedule across Europe and the U.S., check out his website and Facebook page.

 

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