Arts & Culture

Looking at the career of Gregg Arthur, singer / songwriter.

Photo via greggarthur.com

Tony Bennett said “I love the way you sing”

By Jim Gordon and Leeta Liepins

Published 10:56 PDT, Fri April 28, 2023

Last Updated: 12:30 PDT, Tue May 23, 2023

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Australian singer/songwriter Gregg Arthur has made a successful career performing around the world, including successful shows in Las Vegas. He has developed a musical style, as well as a voice, that is uniquely his own. Our City Tonight (OCT) recently had the opportunity to chat with Gregg Arthur—who is based in Sydney, Australia—about his latest album, “Jazz and Cocktails”, the art of performing a jazz classic, and battling a life-threatening illness.

OCT: Gregg, we knew of you and your music from your Vegas days, but recently we were in Sydney, and saw a two-page story on you in the Sydney Morning Herald. Later, we spent some time listening to your music and became instant fans—just like Tony Bennett, who said “I love the way you sing. You’re yourself, which makes you an original singer. Your phrasing is perfection.”

Talk about your early days. You took lessons, and had supportive mentors early on, which led you to find your voice, something very uniquely yours and, we’ll add, superb.

Gregg Arthur (GA): Thank you. That’s lovely to hear that. I did have a wonderful vocal coach named Don Graydon who taught a lot of great Australian singers, and he had, the grounding of classical music and operatic training. So, thanks to him, I can hold a note.

OCT: One of the things we’ve been struck by when listening to your music is your great understanding of the movements of an orchestra. Also, when you perform a jazz classic, you have the ability to make it your own without sacrificing any of the writer’s original intent. Walk us through that balance that you’ve clearly perfected.

GA: Thank you again…you have to find your own truth within the songs. The lyrics in all of these songs from the great American songbook are beautiful. They are part of someone’s life, literarily put down on the page. When you’re talking about lyricists like Lorenz Hart, there’s so many layers to what’s written that you can find your own truth in the lyrics. Take a piece of your own life and put it into the song, then study the arrangements, the orchestrations; especially if they’re not written for you personally. If it’s written for someone like Sinatra or Nat King Cole, and you’re getting up in front of an orchestra and you’re going to sing this. I mean you’ve got to find your own way through it, pick the places where you can be original, and not ride too much on the shoulders of musical giants.

OCT: Staying with jazz classics, you do a great version of Nat King Cole’s ‘Unforgettable’, and though it’s been recorded by many, it’s still really his. Is it intimidating to tackle a song like that? How did you approach it?

GA: First of all, change the key. You study the tempo, the rhythm and then try to understand where you’re going to go with it. You can make it a little different for the people without ruining the song they love so much. That’s important, it was something I learned in Las Vegas. If you go too far with the tune, taking it in a different direction to the point where people don’t recognize it, they won’t react well to that.

OCT: We want to touch on something more serious. You were about to record a new album several years ago when you were diagnosed with leukemia. You are, thankfully, in remission. Can you talk about that period in your life, and how it affected your view on life and your music?

GA: It (my life) was affected very much It was a horrible interruption. Have you ever seen that episode of Seinfeld where Jerry and George are about to get the pilot for a show and George finds the bump above his lip and thinks “I’m about to be successful and God’s going to give me cancer?” That episode is ironic for me, and I still watch it occasionally. It was a terrible time, I was incredibly tired and found it hard to do anything. I was obviously very sick, even though I was doing gigs in Vegas, having so much fun, and on a roll. But sometimes things happen that make you stronger. I’m well now and that’s why I’m happy to talk about it. I didn’t talk about it at all while I was sick as I didn’t want that to be identified as who I was. I still wanted to get up and entertain people and my illness would’ve been a distraction if they knew how sick I was. The audience is everything to me. If the people aren’t enjoying the show, then it would be pointless. But I’m well now and very grateful to look forward to performing in the future.

OCT: We are glad you are well and can’t wait to see you on tour. Please make Vancouver one of those places you perform.

For the full video interview go to richmondsentinel.ca/videos

More on Gregg Arthur at greggarthur.com