Steve Bryant of RED123.
“In order to be believable and authentic when you’re playing music, you have to have some years behind you,” says guitarist Steve Bryant, who will perform with his group RED123 at The Long Branch Jazz & Blues Festival, Aug. 23. “Something has to resonate with others and communicate with the people out there.”
Bryant has been a musician since learning to play the French horn in elementary school, and then starting to learn guitar when his cousin taught him a few chords. He joined the United States Navy Band right after high school. After six years performing in a uniform, the Point Pleasant native took an unexpected turn by joining the pop-rock band Outcry, which released two albums and toured in the 1990s.
In the 2000s, shortly after Outcry disbanded, Bryant was approached by drummer Eric Clark to join a jazz trio named RED123, which played music by Pat Metheny. “It was music we loved, but it ended not too long after that; life got in the way,” says Bryant.
Now, Bryant is a music teacher and band director at Wall Township High School and provides music lessons through his business, Manasquan Music Academy. While quarantining during the pandemic, he worked on his own music in his basement studio.
“It was a difficult time with COVID,” says Bryant. “It was a really difficult time of finding identity about, ‘What have I been doing all these years teaching?’ And, ‘What’s really important to me as an individual?’ It awakened a lot of creativity that was dormant.”
Bryant found himself reverting to his roots in improvisational music and jazz. He started recording and sharing ideas with others in his inner circle, eventually deciding to release an album. Having loved the name RED123 so much, he asked Clark if he could use it for his new work. Clark agreed.
The name does not have a specific meaning; it was derived solely for aesthetic purposes. Bryant believes that Clark came up with the name due to his artistic background, choosing a name that would look aesthetically pleasing on a poster.
The cover of RED123’s album “New Town.”
Under this name, Bryant has released two albums that were written in his basement, then recorded at Shorefire Recording Studios in Long Branch. The six-track Folk Song came out in 2022, followed by the seven-song New Town in January of this year.
He describes the new album’s title as “this idea of a town being a destination but not necessarily a geographic one. It’s someplace you land or that you’re moving forward to, or you’re visiting for a bit … the record is really just a record of a time in my life.”
One of Bryant’s favorite songs from the album is “There Will Be a Day,” because of the intimate connection it has to his life.
“It kind of speaks to those moments when you’re an individual and you feel like you’re just not gaining any ground, and it doesn’t look good,” says Bryant. “Sometimes it’s painful if you didn’t achieve something, or you didn’t win that thing, or someone else is always winning, regardless of how hard you’ve tried. ‘There Will Be a Day’ shows that one day that will change for you. It might not be today, but if you keep waking up tomorrow, there’ll be a day when you don’t feel this way.”
Although RED123 is spearheaded by Bryant, New Town includes many collaborators who helped bring his vision to life: Digba Ogunbiyi, Jeff Levine and Rob Tanico on keyboards; Tom Cottone and Chris Paredes on drums; Cody McCorry on upright bass; David Anthony on percussion; and Rob Paparozzi on harmonica.
Bryant praised them, saying they’re “stellar musicians who bring the music to life.”
Even with his career as a teacher, Bryant performs often at New Jersey venues such as Triumph Restaurant & Brewery in Red Bank.
RED123’s set at the Long Branch Jazz & Blues Festival — which will be presented by the Jersey Shore Jazz & Blues Foundation at the Great Lawn Amphitheater as part of Long Branch’s Free Summer Concert Series — will include songs from both albums, including the Jimmy Webb-written Glen Campbell hit, “Wichita Lineman,” which is on New Town (listen below).
Throughout each stage of life, music has always been a constant for Bryant. Even in difficult times, it was music that drew him back to reality. He described the creation of RED123 as healing — something that gave him purpose to move forward.
“It sounds corny, but music is the thing that really sustains me, emotionally and physically,” says Bryant. “For me, music absolutely brings meaning to life, whether I’m teaching, playing or composing.”
The Long Branch Jazz & Blues Festival, which will take place from 1 to 9 p.m. on Aug. 23, will also feature The Blues Beatles, Peter Karp, The Tommy LaBella AllStars (featuring Arne Wendt), New Watchdog Blues Band and Sweet Music Academy Youth Band. There is no admission charge. Visit jsjbf.org.
For more on RED123, visit red123music.com.
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