BiO

Bryant k Aka Bryant Steward, The downtown swinger was born and raised in St. Louis Mo. He is a dj, producer, singer, songwriter  artist that lived in New York City for many years and also lived and work abroad in such cities like Berlin, Paris and Prague. If you knew him as a child you would know that he was destine to be a musical nomad.

His father KC was a charismatic gentlemen that was liked by many people. He was a respected African American trucker from the delta, He was an instrumental part in Bryant's life, he was not as present in the household, because he was on the road most of the time, and would pop in and out when Bryant was a child. His dad was a great influence on him, like father, like son, Bryant would later on follow his footsteps by going on the road to see the world, doing things he loved.

His mom Patricia was a major force in his life, even more than his dad. She single handedly raised three children successfully. The force and beauty of his mothers eyes molded Bryant to be the type of person he is today. She was such a beautiful women with a heart of gold. She raised the entire village, with no remorse. She was his moral compass in his life. What ever he chose to do he did it from his heart despite money and things, it was about love, life, making things better for not only him but others. 

He was expose to many types of music through out his childhood. He was fond of Scott Joplin, and classical music, which he was expose to at Powell Symphony Hall around the corner from his neighborhood. His older brother Micheal Anthony was a drummer and was into jazz. He was into cats like Grover Washington Jr, Donald Byrd, the Blackbyrds and smooth soul like Leon Ware and Marvin Gaye. His older sister Adriene Denise expose him to Motown, and stuff like Minnie Ripelton, Slyvers, Patrice Rushen, and the  Jackson 5, his mom on the other hand was the spiritual one, turning him on to Stax records, the blues, gospel, Tina Turner and especially Aretha Franklin. Bryant brought the hip hop to the family, He was the youngest by 10 years, his playlist ranged from Run Dmc, Malcolm McClaren, Parliament, to the Tom Tom Club.. Music was a huge part of his upbringing and it was played 24/7 at 3429 Franklin Ave where he grew up.

St. Louis was a tough city for Bryant because he was very different than most kids, The way he dress and presented himself. He always was quiet, mysterious and unique to his peers. He was open to music, culture, and people and St. Louis was segregated place with blacks on one side, whites on the other. It was a blues and jazz town. His mom grew up across the street from the Davises, Miles Davis family in East St. Louis. He later discover that Jackie Wilson was a cousin on his mother side of the family, most of the family stretch from St.Louis, Chicago, and Detroit where music is legacy and being creative was a salvation for survival because it was hard for blacks in these cities. 

He mention that life growing up was like Goodtimes and the soundtrack was Cooley High. He grew up in the ghetto with his older brother, sister and he was the rebel like Micheal. The Blumeyer housing projects is where they grew up. It was located near Powell Symphony hall and it was where Josephine Baker grew up as a child. Across Bell avenue, stood Carver elementary and the legendary Vashon High; a big basketball school; the home of state championship basketball teams and such alumni like Clark Terry, Donnie Hathaway, the Spinks brothers, Maxine Waters and many others. The neighborhood was a community of great people with dignity and pride. This is where Bryant acquired his why for life, he wanted to make his mom proud and prove to world he fit in despite his differences and where he was from.

His first gig was singing doo wop on the street corners of downtown St. Louis.. He organized a group called the "fire five". The group would perform in local and state talent shows, they also performed Small gigs at community centers for the over 35 crowd. They where like the young dramatics, they would do routines dance steps and harmonize ballads from Ray Goodman and Brown, Stylistics, lakeside and more. They also wrote jingles for the Coke Cola, which was the big money maker on the corners. Most of his group members was in it for the perks: the girl crushes, candy, pizza and soda.. Bryant was the lead singer and was the most dedicated. After 5 years or so the group broke up but Bryant would still be in his music. He begin to dig for records, buying and collecting 45's,12'inches and albums, not knowing that later on he would become a dj.

He always kept busy as a kid to keep out of trouble. He became a collector of football, basketball cards and began to get into sports; like football, boxing, and basketball. He became very good player on the basketball court. He eventually start playing for a popular youth Harlem globetrotter team called the St. Louis ZIPS. They would travel all over the country and through Canada, from Madison Square to the Forum, they would be playing local teams and performing halftime shows for the NBA and NCAA. This experience open Bryant's eyes to many possibilities. 

So after breezing through high school, He left St. Louis and headed south to Southern University Baton Rouge with his best friends. The following year he transferred to Howard University in DC. At Howard he studied Theater Arts: Acting and English. He became an actor performing in local plays and film projects. He also worked at Martha"s Table youth center funded by the Reagan and Bush administration as a youth counselor and in addition worked for woolly mammouth theater teaching urban kids theater...

Bryant was really active while in school, he would frequent to New York so years later he had an opportunity so he decided to move to the big apple. During this time Bryant worked odd jobs, took private acting classes, auditions, modeling. He was becoming really active on the scene: hanging out at cool spots, performing at poetry reading, checking for Art, and just meeting people. He ended up downtown and that's when the downtown swinger was born. He begin to organized small parties, carrying around his radio flyer filled with records, rocking music he loved for cool people and sometimes who"s Who. He went to LA for a hiatus for one year, he started to get more deep into music. He eventually got on the road as a dj around the US and Europe, then came back to New York and started playing locally. That's when he start buzzing, People begin to like him because he was unique and was not afraid to play different music. That's when BK became an item on the downtown scene.

Bryant had ties with not only dj's but with musicians, he was a musician type of dj because he played everything: jazz, funk. hip hop, soul, you name it. He eventually was ask to launch a pirate radio station which became the East Village radio. that's when he started B-sides. It became one of the stations favorites. He teamed up with Queen Majesty (Deadly Dragon sound) later on and around this time Bryant started to make his own music.

He had a private studio at his loft in the east village. He would record dubbing with cd burners, playing his wurlitzer, and bass, recording on mics in his small studio..this is where he worked out some of his beginning sketches.... .

Soon he started to get the itch to get away from New York to clear his mind and make music. He felt he needed to be alone and shed, so he packed his Roland 1680 an old mac, mpc drum machine, and records.. underwear and a few items of clothing, Then he was off.

First destination was Prague.. this is where he begin working on music. During this time he was just working it out. Teaching himself to play different instruments, and honing his skill as a composer, singer, songwriter. In the beginning some of the music was just ok but a lot it was bad. He had music in his blood and he was not afraid to take risk and play what he felt. Things eventually start to come together because he practice and start to put shine on the gifts he already had. He already had great taste in music and a talent for good melody, the ability to arrange, write and the ability to use his voice. So after a while ideals became natural to him.

He became a nuisance to his neighbor. She would always ruin the party. He had to find a place to work so he applied for an Artist in residency in Prague for space. he was accepted months later and was the first artist in residency for music at the famous Meetfactory gallery. This is when the music started to really come together. He had a proper studio to make noise. He brought every keyboard he could find at the flea markets, musicians donated instruments and he had 6 months to produced a project with 7 different artist from around the world. He had to have an exhibition based on the music and his experience. The exhibition consist of a photo gallery, small documentary and live performance .After the 6 month he completed the residency and successfully put on an exhibition which was a major success. This is where he created many compositions such as daisies grow, growing up, let the birds fly and many more.

Meantime, his good friend encouraged him to come to Berlin after his residency, so he went there for a few years, worked on more music and dj. He then went back to New York and this time moved to Bedstuy Brooklyn. He continued to make music, building his catalog and released his first record on stones throw called daisies grow and stars. 

Years went by and he was not feeling so inspired in New York. He was eager to get away again to work on his new project. He returned to Berlin in 2014. He had a clear idea of what he wanted, so as soon as he arrived he went to Prague and met up with Christopher Cook (Stockholm) and Giovanni Mazziato Brazilian bassist. He rented the same atelier, he worked in during his residency for 10 days. During those 10 days Bryant, Chris and G went in nonstop and laid down ideas for his project. 

He then went back to Berlin with the sketches and start mapping things out. He would arrange, add things. meet up with Giovanni from time to time, write new material, bring on new collaborators like Karo Safari, Saxophonist Martin Debricka, Mathmicmusic.. Asten Meyer. Dylan Maida. Meanwhile he would be traveling, djing making ends meet.

A year and half past and he was putting the finishing touches on the record. Then an opportunity arise and he went to Turkey for a dj residency at Nublu Istanbul for three months.. He ended up in the gypsy part of town called Balat Fener, In this place he got into writing. It was slummy but beautiful place, it reminded him of Naples Italy. He was alone and a loner. He was inspired by the neighborhood and the experience. He decided to name his project "beautiful words". He wrote a fare share of his lyrics there. It is where he wrote dreams and rooms the 7 inch record that will be release on stones throw Records 2017. a collaboration with with Dylan Maida from Queens NY. 

The time in Turkey was a big adventure and amazing experience, he headed back to Berlin and months later finished his project. "Beautiful Words" which suppose to come out this year.

In conclusion, this is just a brief rant about Bryant k, about his inspirations and experiences that makes him an artist. Their is much more to his story, this is just moments. His music and style is so unpredictable. He is a musician that don't take himself so serious, although he is serious about his craft. He gives you moments in his life, bares it all through his music. He tries to be honest and he want to inspire. I remember him saying that his whole quest in life was about building character and doing his part by giving a part of himself to world. When i got the opportunity to really get into his music. I got it!!!. He is a creative, an artist, an individual, a visionary that creates lanes that he rides alone, then when someone enters that lane, he always shift with the beat of his heart to create more lanes, to give you more... 

With that said, i encourage you to stay tune to the beat of his drum, he keeps it interesting, young, and fresh, i get excited every time, I'm always interested to see where the sound of his heart takes me next...... because i know most time it s a place i never been before.. 

BLoOG/BOb...