Freddie Bryant

Freddie Bryant has been called “one of the most gifted and versatile guitarists on the scene today” by jazz author Bill Milkowski and “a brilliant young guitarist and composer” by legendary guitarist Kenny Burrell. A versatile musician skilled both in jazz and classical music, Freddie is heavily in demand in the New York jazz scene. He has performed at the Kennedy Center and on NPR with the Billy Taylor Trio, and has performed and/or recorded with Ben Riley, Eliane Elias, the Mingus Orchestra, Tom Harrell, D.D. Jackson, Brad Mehldau, Chris Potter, Rosanna Vitro, Dee Dee Bridgewater, Sheila Jordan, Joshua Redman, Wynton Marsalis, Max Roach, Lonnie Smith, Steve Wilson, Kevin Hays, Randy Brecker, Salif Keita, Giora Feidman, Max Roach, Lonnie Smith, Badal Roy and many others. Freddie is also on the first call list of many singers because of his sensitive accompanying, and of Brazilian groups due to his knowledge of Brazilian guitar. He has also collaborated with musicians from India, Kenya, Saudi Arabia and Cuba, and has toured in fifty countries. Freddie’s own groups include Kaleidoscope, Trio del Sol and Brooklyn Rainforest.

A dedicated life-long student and now an accomplished educator, Freddie Bryant graduated from Amherst College with a BA in music and has a Masters in classical guitar from the Yale School of Music. In 2004 he was chosen as a Copeland Fellow at Amherst College where he was later awarded an honorary doctorate. He currently is on the faculty at the Berklee College of Music and the Prins Claus Conservatory in Groningen, Holland as well as VJC, and was previously a professor in the Africana Studies and Music departments at Williams College.