Brian Newman

Twenty degrees Cooler Than Everyone Else!

- Paul Gambino

How cool is Brian Newman? Let’s just say, if there were a trumpet player in Goodfellas, it would have been played by Brian Newman. And if he were to get matching tattoos with someone, it would be with Lady GaGa and the tattoo would have been designed by Tony Bennett…and that’s exactly what went down with Brian and Lady GaGa. Meet Brian Newman — this cat’s got the chops to blow the roof off the joint, while dressed to the nines and droppin’ dimes with a lady named Gaga! Oh yeah, and did we mention he rocks some killer ink?

Why do you think people have so much “trouble” with jazz?

I think a lot of people don’t really know what jazz is. Most people think Kenny G or some weird style of music they can’t relate to. Jazz gets a bad rap. I believe a lot of the blame falls on the musicians in the jazz community. They treat it like it’s high art and that intimidates a lot of people. And schools nowadays are teaching kids about jazz like it’s some stuffy, high-brow art form where they are taught to repeat patterns over and over again created by other musicians. These kids never get a chance to really find their own voice.

But, for me, jazz is a form of entertainment and I am an entertainer. It’s about bringing people in. I think certain jazz artists over the years have turned their own fan base away. Their attitude is just come see me and this is what you’re going to get. As soon as you start getting all, I’m an artist, it’s like, I don’t care anymore. You’re not interesting to me.