Anthony Strong is a British singer and jazz pianist who has been hailed by UK newspaper as “a major new talent”. His debut album, Stepping Out, reached #1 on the US iTunes Jazz Charts, BBC Radio 2, BBC Radio London and Jazz FM.
He has slowly but steadily built a touring capability that has so far reached 26 countries across 4 continents. The tour schedules speak for themselves and include, to name just a few, the 1,300 seat CCB in Lisbon, Istanbul’s Is Sanat Concert Hall, legendary French festival Jazz in Marciac, the Marina Bay Sands in Singapore and Litchfield Festival in the USA. The musician has performed with stars such as Michael Bolton, Marti Pellow, Kyle Eastwood, and has been also a warm-up artist for the legendary American blues player B.B. King.
Anthony’s formative early years were spent, on scholarships, at 3 of England’s leading music schools – Whitgift School, The Purcell School of Music, and Guildhall School of Music, first studying classical music before, eventually, turning to jazz piano and singing. Since 2013 singer and pianist works with iconic French label Naïve Records.
“Great singer, great pianist” /Jamie Cullum/
“Real great music” /BB King/
The Latvian Radio Big Band has played a significant role in the history of jazz in Latvia. The big band’s legacy to Latvian culture is priceless – currently, the sound library of “Latvian Radio” holds over 9,000 recordings featuring the band. The creative driving force behind the orchestra is a musician, producer and the artistic director Māris Briežkalns; the big band’s musical director is Kārlis Vanags.
The big band was first founded in 1966. Such Latvian jazz legends as Alnis Zakis, Gunars Rozenbergs and Maestro Raimonds Pauls had taken the lead in the orchestra. Being the only professional jazz big band in Latvia, it was however disbanded in 1996. After its revival in 2012, it operates under the wing of the state concert agency “Latvijas Koncerti”. Since 2012, the big band has performed together with world-class artists, including Italian vocalist Roberta Gambarini, American jazz vocalist Kurt Elling, drummer Jojo Mayer, “New York Voices”, Multi Grammy Award winner Randy Brecker, singer Allan Harris and Australian multi-instrumentalist James Morrison, multi Grammy Award winner Diane Schuur, singer and Broadway actress Shayna Steele, among many others. The big band has been nominated twice for the Grand Music Award - the highest form of a state recognition in the field of music in Latvia.
Participants:
Anthony Strong
The Latvian Radio Big Band
Concert in one part. Duration: approximately 1 hour 30 minutes
Venue: Great Hall
Organiser: Lielais dzintars in cooperation with Latvijas Koncerti and The Latvian Radio Big Band
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