Bryan Anthony is in love with the American Songbook.
Inhabiting the music of Gershwin, Berlin and others whose melodies emanated from Broadway, Hollywood and Tin Pan Alley in the first half of the 20th century, Anthony and the 16-member Tommy Dorsey Orchestra arrived in New Zealand earlier this week for a tour comprising more than 20 concerts, including the Regent Theatre, Dunedin, on Wednesday, July 23.
Speaking from TVNZ's Auckland headquarters before he and the big band performed on TV One's Good Morning on Wednesday morning, Anthony describes himself as an ''old soul''.
''I'm 36 years old but ... I think the American Songbook is one of the greatest cultural gifts we have given to the world, just like Europe gave classical music to the world.
''It is a genre unto itself. We need to keep doing it so it doesn't collect dust. It is living, breathing music.''
Raised near Houston, Texas, Anthony experienced a musical epiphany as a teenager when a friend gave him a copy of Sinatra's greatest hits (from the singer's Reprise label years). As he hunted out more Sinatra recordings, he became aware of a wider jazz vocal pantheon, from Joe Williams, Tony Bennett and Chet Baker to Ella Fitzgerald and Sarah Vaughan.
In 1995 he enrolled at the Manhattan School of Music to study classical voice, then went on to graduate with a master's degree in jazz and studio music at New York University.
Anthony's first major gig came in 1997 when the Glenn Miller Orchestra hired him for a tour. He ended up taking a leave of absence from school that allowed him to keep his scholarship, and spent a year on the road crooning some of the best-loved standards in the American Songbook, including At Last and The Nearness of You.
Though he joined the Tommy Dorsey Orchestra full-time only three years ago, Anthony has had previous forays with the band, which is now led by Terry Myers.
''It is such a thrill to sing with 16 musicians,'' Anthony says.
''It is a different animal from singing small-group jazz, where you have a lot of freedom. When you are singing with a big band, you are tied to an arrangement, so you have to know when to get out of the way if there's a solo.
''Although the songs might be the same, the singing approach is far different.
''When it comes to American popular singing, there is a tradition: when you first sing a song, you sing the melody the way the composer intended it. After you've done it the way it has been written on a page, you have the freedom to put yourself into the song, by way of altering the melody slightly or changing the phrasing.''
Primarily, Anthony and the Tommy Dorsey Orchestra are attempting a form of time travel: ''We are trying to transport people to the 1930s and 1940s, when the ballroom was king.
''The most contemporary song we do comes from the mid-'60s,'' Anthony says, chuckling in reference to I Want To Be Around, with which Tony Bennett had a hit in 1963.
''The idea is to make people feel how special this music is.''
See them, hear them
The Tommy Dorsey Orchestra presents ''the Kings of Swing'' at the following venues:
• Theatre Royal, Timaru, Sunday, July 20 Oamaru Opera House, Monday, July 21
• Civic Theatre, Invercargill, Tuesday, July 22
• Regent Theatre, Dunedin, Wednesday, July 23
• The Swing Sisters complement the show, performing the greatest hits of the Andrews Sisters. An added attraction will be swing dance group the Hollywood Jive Dancers.
Give away
We have three double passes to The Tommy Dorsey Orchestra ''the Kings of Swing'' to give away.
To enter, send your name, address and daytime phone number to: ''Kings of Swing Competition'', PO Box 181, Dunedin, or email playtime@odt.co.nz
Please put ''kings of Swing'' in the subject line. Entries close at noon on July 17.
