Bremner Fletcher Duthie: The Sky Was Blue

Born in NYC, Bremner Duthie grew up in Vancouver and Montreal, and has lived and performed across Canada from Toronto to the Yukon, and in London, New York and Paris.

"When he sings, his voice is like a big, dark, sultry room --full of emotive and expressive possibilities. Even when Duthie sings in languages other than English, the passion and subtext come startlingly alive."-- The Georgia Straight, Vancouver

Bremner performs jazz, cabaret and music theatre. A recent highlight was touring Japan with a 17 piece Big Band, and touring France in a new production of the 1930's musical 'The Cradle Will Rock' by Mark Blitzstein.  Bremner has received 5 star reviews around the world for his performances of the music of the composer Kurt Weill. 

Bremner Duthie’s new album, The Sky Was Blue, is like a big old brass bed – a well pounded mattress of bouncy old jazz springs, a colourful quilt of pop twang, and a huge fluffy feather pillow of Sixties soul.

‘The Sky Was Blue’, was recorded at the BopCity Studios in Paris.  The 12 tracks capture acoustic jazz layered over a set of classic pop and jazz standards.  Canadian compositions feature highly with 5 songs by some noted Canadian writers. 

Much of the band's appeal is due to the fluid performance of Tommaso Montagnani on bass. Remi Amblard's contribution to the album came from years of playing piano for French chanson singers and their smoky soul stylings. Thierry Tardieu, from Madagascar, brought in his long history working in Brazilian bands and extensive experience playing with the cream of French jazz players, while Benoit Gil offered his history of blues and rock guitar.

Bremner’s baritone blends dark shades of Sinatra and Tom Waits. The title track 'Lover Come Back to Me’ is slow, smoky and achingly fragile and there's a bouncy new arrangement of Benny Golson’s ‘Whisper Not’, written for the Dizzy Gillespie orchestra, and a tragic take on the rarely-performed Louis Armstrong standard "Sweethearts on Parade." The album includes songs by the Velvet Underground, Jonie Mitchell, The Talking Heads and even the contemporary Canadian pop composer Ron Sexsmith. 

contact Bremner at bremner.duthie (at) gmail.com 

Listen to tracks here - http://www.bremnerduthie.com/music.html

Photos here - http://www.bremnerduthie.com/photos.html

Reviews/Press here - http://www.bremnerduthie.com/press.html

And some live video from a recent gig at the famous Cameron House in Toronto

Whisper Not, by Benny Golson

Secret Heart - by Ron Sexsmith

Some of These Days, by Shelton Brooks

and finally, a classic chanson from the wonderful French singer and writer Charles Trenet - Menilmontant!