Peabo Bryson

By Preston Turegano

“Every recording artist wants to sing, record or write a song, or be associated with a song the world will sing along with them,” Peabo Bryson said recently while looking back at his long career as a singer whose voice has been described as “silky,” “velvety” and “mellow.”

“You can’t choose what people will remember you for,” the 56-year-old artist said during a telephone interview from his home in suburban Atlanta, Georgia. “The blessing, or good fortune, is that they remember you for anything at all. Music is probably the closest I’ll ever come to immortality.”
    
Unquestionably, Bryson’s 1992 and 1993 single record hits “Beauty and the Beast” and “A Whole New World” which he sang, respectively, with Celine Dion and Regina Belle, are songs that captured world attention. They won the three vocalists Grammy awards the same years the tunes won Oscars for their composers, Alan Menken and Howard Ashman for “Beauty and the Beast” from the movie of the same title, and Menken and Tim Rice for “A Whole New World” from “Aladdin.”
    
When the two Disney animated movies are brought up, Bryson isn’t like some artists––especially actors––who are offended when interviewers mention a past role of theirs that became a cult classic. Such celebs just want to talk about what they’re doing now.
    
“Those songs,” Bryson said of his Grammy-winning achievements, “will still be viable long after my bones are dust.”
    
Before “World” and “Beast” came along, Bryson achieved success with his 1984 single, “If Ever You’re In My Arms Again,” and 1991’s  “Can You Stop The Rain.” Both made it to No. 1 on Billboard’s charts; the former in adult contemporary genre and the latter in hot R&B/hip-hop.
    
Bryson admits he expected to take home a Grammy for “Can You Stop The Rain,” but was pleased when his friend, Luther Vandross, won the R&B male vocal honor for “Power of Love.”
    
Whether Bryson gets an enduring hit from any of the 11 tracks on his latest album, Missing You, being released on Peak Records this fall remains to be seen. The CD is Bryson’s first since 2005 when he cut Christmas With You, which came six years after his last non-Christmas effort, Unconditional Love.
    
Between 1978, when Bryson released his first album, Peabo, and 1989 when he produced All My Love, he was putting out an album, on average, once a year. The recent artistic “dry” spells have made some Bryson followers wonder if the singer is slowing down, or is thinking about retirement.
    
“A lot of different things were going on; a lot of musical chairs (were being played) in the music industry at the time. I found I didn’t know anybody in the business anymore. My recording label got sold, and I opted not to remain there. So, I decided to take some time––go on hiatus––to find out what kind of music I wanted to make. I didn’t want that to change too much. I was lucky I was in a place (financially) where I didn’t have to go out and work,” said Bryson of the six-year gap.
    
Judging from a preview copy of Missing You, Bryson’s voice is still in great condition. The album is certain to get exposure when Bryson appears as part of Norman Brown’s Summer Storm at the MarineMax Clearwater Jazz Holiday on Oct. 19 and the Catalina Island JazzTrax Festival on Oct. 21, as well as being a featured performer on the Dave Koz & Friends at Sea seven-day Caribbean cruise aboard Holland America’s ms Westerdam...

The complete story can be found in the October edition of Smooth Jazz News.  Subscribe today. Receive 11 editions of Smooth Jazz News per year, mailed monthly (February through December), for $35.