Photos Khalid al Busaidi
Last week, the multi-musician, composer and arranger, Anthony Strong, graced the stage at the Royal Opera House of Musical Arts to packed houses. Along with the extraordinary skills of the fourteen musicians of the Latvian Radio Big Band and his own bespoke rhythm section brought from London, Strong appeared for the first time in Oman - but not for the last, it is hoped.
British born and known for his snappy dressing, the slight and dapper Anthony Strong fairly ran on stage in a tailored pink suit and blue suede shoes to the grand piano. He launched into the James Bond-like, “Whatever Lola Wants”, singing from the top with the huge, broad sound of the horns behind. It led straight into a very slick arrangement of, “Luck be a lady tonight”, featuring a fine trumpet solo from Andris Augstkalns.
Strong explains that in his reinterpretations of classic standards which audiences can connect to, his intros and outros will have his own unique stamp on them. This one proved the point with its driving drum rhythms - a Strong outro in every sense. In contrast came his sparse arrangement of Stevie Wonder's Soulful, “Higher Ground”, built over a bass riff from former colleague at the Guildhall London, Spencer Brown, off-beat finger clicks and Wonder-ful vocals!
His original, “Gamblin’ Man Blues”, went down a storm, with Artistic Director of the LRBB, Karlis Vanags, adding a mean tenor saxophone solo over some discreet guitar backing, and a lyrical vocal outro.
Strong is deservedly proud of his first video arrangement of Irving Berlin’s, “Cheek to Cheek”; a fast, dazzling interpretation for bass and voice, then improvised piano licks, bringing his brilliant technique to the fore. A lovely lush piano introduction gave the audience a chance to hear his warm solo style in, “Unforgettable”. Smooth, mellow big band orchestration - featuring sleazy trombone lines - was punctuated by syncopated rhythms from all the horns. Anthony Strong was clearly enjoying his role as double soloist in this highly professional and polished production throughout the night’s performance.
His Gospel original from a recent album, “When it Moves You”, gave session guitarist, Nick Fitch, a chance to shine above the trombone section – underpinned by great drumming from the LRBB percussionist. Unusually, there were no purely instrumental numbers in the whole programme; singing without a break for two 45-minute sets is quite a challenge.
The band fell silent, giving the rhythm section an opportunity to bring out their inner-Johnny Cash in, “16 Tons”, followed by the quartet’s interpretation of the popular standard, “The Way you look Tonight”. Anthony Strong’s voice is reliable and lyrical, hinting at Michael Bublé yet without detracting or upstaging the instrumental contribution of the musicians. There were some interesting quartel harmonies in the
piano solo, and guitar inflections from Fitch echoing the piano melody. The big band jumped straight back in with Berlin’s, “Stepping out with my baby” (which nattily includes a reference to his pink suit!) bringing the first half back to the broad soundworld of the opening number.
The second set opened with a brassy, jazzy arrangement of Gershwin’s chestnut, “They Can’t Take that Away From Me”, including a tenor saxophone solo full of energy and piano glissandi for sparkling effect. The punchy horns in Strong’s reworking of Lerner’s classic, “On a Clear Day” forms the refreshingly funky title track to an early album. The slow piano intro and saxophone riffs in his unique signature song, “I Can’t Give You Anything But Love”, included rich polytonal harmony and texture in his improvisation, including some musical quotations.
Tom-tom accompaniment throughout the trio, “My Foolish Heart”, suggested the intimate night time atmosphere of Porter’s ‘Night and Day’. Despite citing Bill Evans, Chick Corea and Harry Connick Jr as major influences, Strong’s style is very much his own; a particularly lyrical mix of elegance and passion. Sometimes Dollar Brand/Abdullah Ibrahim’s chordal, hymn-like qualities come to mind in his playing, such as in the original, “Ocean”, composed for a friend.
A real highlight of his performance came in another original song, “That Kind of Guy”, sounding like a movie score with the full force of a Sinatra big band sound. Trombone player, Uldis Ziedinš shone in his final solo, gaining spontaneous applause. Scat singing followed in Cole Porter’s, “It’s Too Darn Hot”, over piano vamps juxtaposed with a huge, brassy sound behind saxophone solos. Anthony Strong thanked his band, the theatre and the audience, and plunged into his final number, Ray Charles’, “Hallelujah I Love Her So”. The Latvian Radio Big Band excelled themselves with their Funky Gospel rhythm over that Ibrahim-style of piano backing.
But it wasn’t the end; an encore in the form of Nat King Cole’s 1964 classic, L.O.V.E. sent the audience dancing out of the auditorium into a balmy November Muscat night.
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