- Album list
- Singer Intro
Scott Bradlee (born September 19, 1981) is an American musician, pianist, and arranger. He is best known for his viral videos on YouTube, including his work under the moniker Postmodern Jukebox (PMJ) —an ever-evolving, revolving collective of performers playing popular music in period styles.
Biography
Bradlee grew up in the Pattenburg section of Union Township, Hunterdon County, New Jersey where he fell in love with jazz at the age of 12 after hearing George Gershwin's Rhapsody in Blue for the first time. He attended North Hunterdon High School and later the University of Hartford.
Bradlee became a successful performer in the New York jazz scene, and served as music director for an interactive, off-Broadway theater experience called Sleep No More.
In looking for creative inspiration, Bradlee began reworking popular music as an exercise. In 2009, he released 'Hello My Ragtime '80s,' which incorporated ragtime-style piano into popular music from the 1980s. After playing and experimenting on stage at his regular gig at Robert Restaurant, he released the compilation Mashups by Candlelight. Bradlee gained popularity in 2012 with A Motown Tribute to Nickelback, a collaboration with local musicians which arranged Nickelback's songs in the style of 1960s style R&B music.
In 2013, Bradlee began to work more seriously on forming Postmodern Jukebox, a rotating group of musicians producing covers of pop songs in alternate styles, including jazz, ragtime, and swing. The group burst onto the public radar with their doo-wop cover of Miley Cyrus's 'We Can't Stop', featuring Robyn Adele Anderson and guest artists, The Tee-Tones. As the viral surge grew, Bradlee was interviewed by news outlets such as NPR and also performed live on Good Morning America and Fuse. The group visited Cosmopolitan Magazine's New York office for a year-end review of their work and popular songs from the year.
Several artists have publicly noted their appreciation for the group's work. Among the group's prominent guest musicians are Dave Koz, who collaborated with them in jazz covers of 'Careless Whisper' and the Game of Thrones theme music, and Niia, who joined them for a 'space jazz' version of 'The End of the World'. Postmodern Jukebox's October 2013 collaboration with Puddles Pity Party on a cover of Lorde's 'Royals' generated particularly strong interest; as of September 2014, this video remained the second most popular on Bradlee's YouTube channel with over 15.1 million hits.
In 2013, Bradlee found interest from the video game industry, gaining a composer credit for 2K Games' BioShock Infinite soundtrack, which features four of his stylized arrangements: a piano cover of Tears for Fears' 'Everybody Wants to Rule the World' (piano and vocals), a jazzy ragtime cover of Gloria Jones' 'Tainted Love' (arrangement, piano), and covers of R.E.M.'s 'Shiny Happy People' (arrangement and piano) and 'After You’ve Gone' (arrangement, piano).
In early September 2014, Bradlee uploaded a 1940s jazz interpretation of 'All About That Bass' called 'All About That (Upright) Bass', featuring Kate Davis singing solo while playing double bass, with Bradlee on piano and Dave Tedeschi on drums. The video received 8 million hits in three months. Also in 2014, Bradlee's YouTube Channel 'Postmodern Jukebox' was listed as #42 on NewMediaRockstars' 'Top 100 Channels'.
In late 2014 to 2015, Postmodern Jukebox toured extensively through America and Europe with its rotating cast of musical contributors. On Feb. 24th, Postmodern Jukebox co-headlined the Dubai Jazz Festival, alongside Sting, Toto, Chris Botti, and David Gray. On February 26, the band kicked off a 75-date international tour at Vicar Street in Dublin, Ireland, wrapping on June 4 in Ankara, Turkey.
In early February 2016, Bradlee and Postmodern Jukebox covered the late David Bowie’s classic song 'Heroes' in honor of World Cancer Day – featuring vocals by Nicole Atkins. The track became one of his most popular arrangements to date and was sold on iTunes to earn money for the Cancer Research Institute. In 2016, Heineken announced their global partnership with Formula One racing management and in September released its first 'If You Drive, Never Drink' campaign commercial featuring Sir Jackie Stewart (the 'Flying Scot”) which featured Bradlee’s cover of “Heroes” as the soundtrack.
In 2016, Adweek featured Bradlee as one of '20 Content Creators Who Are Setting the Bar for Creativity in 2016.'
In June 2017, Bradlee was tapped by Tony Awards host Kevin Spacey to help him craft the show's dazzling number, which paid homage to all four of the year's “Best Musical” nominees and culminated in a Fred Astaire-style tap dance routine. Bradlee was credited as a co-arranger on the 2017 Tony Awards. Spacey, who’s become an enthusiastic fan and outspoken supporter of Postmodern Jukebox over the past several years, also recently introduced Bradlee onstage at a Postmodern Jukebox show at L’Olympia in Paris.
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