Lance Bryant
- Adjunct Instructor Cali School of Music
- bryantl@montclair.edu
- Location
- Montclair Campus > Chapin Hall
Biography
Lance Bryant teaches Jazz Styles and Culture, a course that explores jazz as far more than a sequence of historical events. The class examines the cultural, social, political, geographical and technological forces that shaped the creation and development of the music across the decades. Students gain an understanding not only of how jazz evolved, but why this uniquely American art form remains so significant. Bryant also encourages students to consider how jazz can remind us of where we have been, while inspiring us to resist forces that diminish our progress or humanity.
A saxophonist, vocalist, composer and arranger, Bryant received his formal music education at Berklee College of Music in Boston, where he studied saxophone, composition and arranging. After moving to New York City in the mid-1980s, he continued his studies privately with Frank Foster, former director of the Count Basie Orchestra.
In 1990, Bryant began a decade-long association with the Lionel Hampton Orchestra. He became the orchestra’s musical director and principal arranger in 1993. He has performed, recorded and toured extensively with artists including Phyllis Hyman, Jon Hendricks, Pete “LaRocca” Sims, Wallace Roney, Abdullah Ibrahim and James Williams.
Bryant’s enduring connection between spirituality and music is reflected in his work. In 2002, he released Psalm, the first of four recordings featuring original songs and jazz arrangements of hymns and spirituals.
His Broadway credits include After Midnight, featuring the music of Duke Ellington; Shuffle Along, starring Tony Award winner Audra McDonald; A Celebration of Cole Porter with Harry Connick Jr.; and, most recently, MJ the Musical.
When he is not touring with the re-formed Lionel Hampton Big Band featuring Jason Marsalis or with acclaimed pianist and composer Abdullah Ibrahim and Ekaya, Bryant leads his own ensemble, Lance Bryant & Shout!, which performs a monthly residency in Newark, New Jersey.
Bryant currently serves as an adjunct professor at Montclair State University, where he teaches Jazz Styles and Culture.
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