One Day I’ll Fly Away
Gerry Bryant composer, pianist
Gerry Bryant joins Big Round Records with ONE DAY I’LL FLY AWAY, a map of the passage of time explored through a blend of classical, jazz, and popular music arrangements for piano. Bryant punctuates the album’s landscape with an original work, opening alongside violinist Mark Cargill in Anon in G Major, a performance equal in charm and liveliness to his reimaginings and reharmonizations of jazz standards and popular classics. True to form in uplifting the world of times past, Bryant personally honors the work of composer Florence Price in five delightful recordings, Price’s Honeysuckle at Dusk leading the album into its titular work, One Day I’ll Fly Away. Bryant reflects on his love of music today, tomorrow, and in the forever he hopes to fly to, leaving behind his music for the world to enjoy.
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Track Listing & Credits
| # | Title | Composer | Performer | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 01 | Anon in G Major | Gerry Bryant | Gerry Bryant, piano; Mark Cargill, violins, viola, cello, string arrangement | 8:44 |
| 02 | Yesterday | John Lennon, Paul McCartney arr. Gerry Bryant | Gerry Bryant, piano | 5:01 |
| 03 | Little Melody in E Flat | Florence Price | Gerry Bryant, piano | 2:10 |
| 04 | As Time Goes By | Herman Hupfeld arr. Gerry Bryant | Gerry Bryant, piano | 4:52 |
| 05 | Dreaming | Florence Price | Gerry Bryant, piano | 3:04 |
| 06 | Tomorrow (A Better You, Better Me) | Siedah Garrett, George Johnson, Louis Johnson arr. Gerry Bryant | Gerry Bryant, piano | 6:21 |
| 07 | Memory Mist | Florence Price | Gerry Bryant, piano | 3:37 |
| 08 | The Summer Knows (Theme From Summer of '42) | Alan Bergman, Marilyn Bergman, Michel Legrand arr. Gerry Bryant | Gerry Bryant, piano | 3:05 |
| 09 | Daydreaming at the Washtub | Florence Price | Gerry Bryant, piano | 2:16 |
| 10 | Hot Fun in the Summertime | Sylvester Stewart arr. Gerry Bryant | Gerry Bryant, piano | 4:47 |
| 11 | Honeysuckle at Dusk | Florence Price | Gerry Bryant, piano | 3:52 |
| 12 | One Day I'll Fly Away | Joe Sample, Will Jennings arr. Gerry Bryant | Gerry Bryant, piano | 6:10 |
Tracks 1, 2, 6, 12
Recorded March 2023 at CCI Media Studio in Gardena CA
Recording Session Co-Producers Gerry Bryant & Gregory Cook
Recording Session Co-Producer (track 1) Mark Cargill
Recording Session Engineer Gregory Cook
Tracks 3-5, 7-11
Recorded May-July, September 2022 at CCI Media Studio in Gardena CA
Recording Session Co-Producers Gerry Bryant & Gregory Cook
Recording Session Engineer Gregory Cook
Editing, Mixing & Mastering Gregory Cook
Album Cover Illustrator Valerie Hennessy
Album Cover Graphics Design Slick+Slicker Designs
Executive Producer Bob Lord
VP of A&R Brandon MacNeil
VP of Production Jan Košulič
Audio Director Lucas Paquette
VP, Design & Marketing Brett Picknell
Art Director Ryan Harrison
Design Edward A. Fleming
Publicity Chelsea Kornago
Artist Information
Gerry Bryant
Gerry Bryant has been described by many as a renaissance man. Multi-talented Bryant graduated cum laude from both Phillips Andover Academy and Harvard, and received two graduate degrees (J.D. & M.B.A.) from UCLA. His musical influences range from masters of the Romantic Period in classical music (in particular Chopin, Tchaikovsky and Rachmaninoff), to jazz legends Nat King Cole and Duke Ellington, to contemporary pianists Keith Jarrett and Ramsey Lewis. He describes his original music as “Third Stream,” a term coined in 1957 by composer Gunther Schuller to describe a musical genre that is a synthesis of classical music and jazz.
Notes
Conceptually, the titles of the tracks symbolize past and present periods of time and reflection for Gerry Bryant (e.g. Yesterday, As Time Goes By, Dreaming, etc.), and then the future (Tomorrow), concluding with the title track, One Day I’ll Fly Away, when he will fly away, leaving his entire catalog of music for all to enjoy.
As with all of his previous solo piano albums, Bryant blends together classical and jazz elements in a personal and original way. This album can easily be thought of as having three parts. The first part is the opening original, Anon In G Major, which has Bryant joining forces with his frequent collaborator, violinist Mark Cargill, where they expound on the four-note melodic theme by treating it in diverse ways in different sections.
The other two parts of One Day I’ll Fly Away consist of piano solos. Six reimagined and reinvented standards and pop tunes alternate with five charming classical pieces by Florence Price (1887-1953), who was the first Black woman to have a symphony performed by a major American classical orchestra but whose music has been neglected through the years. Bryant has championed her legacy and recorded some of her other works on his PARMA Recordings/Navona Records release, THE COMPOSERS.
The other six tracks are reimagined popular songs. For example, Bryant takes the Beatles’ Yesterday on a journey through various musical genres. As Time Goes By (which begins with the piano simulating a ticking clock) is dramatically reharmonized while retaining its classic melody. The Summer Knows has its melody slightly modified rhythmically but the song retains its emotional poignancy, and One Day I’ll Fly Away explores several different thematic variations.