Grammy-winning producer, bandleader, trumpeter and vocalist Brian Newman has been wowing Club Room audiences with his rousing renditions of tunes from the Great American Songbook. The Cleveland, Ohio native started playing trumpet at the age of 10. His foray into jazz followed soon after.

 

“I got into jazz music around age 12 and started booking my own band at coffee houses and later at a fancy Italian restaurant three nights a week,” he tells us. “I always had gigs even back then! I attended the Cincinnati College Conservatory of Music in 1999 and moved to NYC in 2003. For the first five or six years, I worked many odd jobs – bartending, busing tables, and working for a moving company, all while playing as much as I could and taking sideman gigs from Craigslist while building out my own shows and residencies throughout the city. Anything to stay in the city I loved so much. The Oak Room at the Plaza Hotel was my first really great gig. We recorded a live album there on their last day open in 2011. I have such fond memories of the place that started it all. That led to us playing at the Gramercy Park Hotel twice a week for 11 years, and eventually at the Roxy as well. So it’s good to be back with the family.”

 

As the current musical director, bandleader and lead arranger for Lady Gaga, Newman recorded and created orchestrations for the Grammy-nominated record ‘Harlequin’ as well as being featured on the soundtrack for the movie ‘Joker 2: Folie A Deux.’ It’s a collaboration that continues to bear musical fruit.

 

“It’s been a wild ride with Gaga for sure!” Newman says. “From the early days in the Lower East Side dive bars to Tony Bennett records, “A Star Is Born”, “Joker 2”, and the “Harlequin” album, touring… There’s so much more that we’ve done together and I’m looking forward to lots more to come in the future!”

 

Working with Lady Gaga also afforded Newman the opportunity to apprentice legendary jazz vocalist Tony Bennett. What does he remember from his days with the storied crooner?

 

“Tony really was the best of the best,” Newman replies. “Kind, humble and always great to be around. A true gentleman in every sense of the word. Before I got to do all those great albums, and tours with him and Gaga, I was emulating him in my room as a kid. He’s always been my hero and will continue to be the role model I strive to follow. Come to a show and I’ll tell you more stories!”

 

The always dapper Newman is a fan of both classic clothing and, if you’ve followed his social media accounts even casually, you’ll also notice his penchant for classic cars.

 

“I have always loved cars since I was a kid,” he explains. “My dad didn’t have a lot of money but he always had something cool to cruise! There was a big car culture in my hometown of Mentor, Ohio. My father and I bonded over the cars and the music of the 1950s hot rod era. I’ve had a bunch of great cars over the years but my pride and joy right now is a 1932 Ford Roadster built the way a guy would have built it back in the late 1940’s. No top, seatbelts or power anything! Just you and the road!”

 

What three albums does he think every cool cat should own?

 

“For the classic Great American Songbook,  I’d have to go with ‘The Complete Tony Bennett & Bill Evans Recordings’, he says. “One of my favorite songwriters was Phil Lynott and since I’m a rocker at heart, I’d have to say ‘Thin Lizzy’s ‘Bad Reputation’ for number two. For modern vibes, I’ve really been digging ‘Raye – Live at Royal Albert Hall.’ Such a powerful singer and the arrangements are absolutely killer.”

 

And what’s so special about performing at the Club Room for Newman?

 

“I’ve always wanted to live in New York, and one of the reasons I wanted to come to New York in the first place was watching that movie ‘Made’ from my couch in college,” he says. “They stayed at the Soho Grand and man I thought it was so goddamn cool! It’s a special room for New York City. The sound, the vibes, the people and the killer drinks which I’ve had plenty of… In an ever-changing New York that sometimes some of us don’t recognize, the Club Room is a timeless and classic old school room in New York City that will always be here hiding in plain sight.”

 

Don’t miss Brian Newman at his Club Room residency all throughout May and at the inaugural Downtown NYC JazzFest.