Brittany Anjou

Brittany Anjou is a New York based pianist, keyboardist, improviser, composer, and vibraphonist. She has performed with artists such as Elysian Fields, Clark Terry, Jeremy Pelt, The Shaggs, and the New York Arabic Orchestra. Her original album of piano trio compositions titled Enamiĝo Reciprokataj (Origin Records), and collab album Nong Voru (Chant Records) with Ghanaian xylophonist Alfred Kpebesaane received international acclaim. Anjou is on the faculty of The New School in New York and served on the faculty of the Sheikh Jaber Al-Ahmed Cultural Center Music School in Kuwait from 2018-2020. She holds a B.Mus. from NYU under the mentorship of Stefon Harris, and an MA in Music Psychology, Education and Wellbeing with merit from the University of Sheffield. Her dissertation is on the mental health of NYC jazz musicians. Her ensemble collective Moon Mode features compositions by womxn and non-binary composers, including her alter ego punk project, Bi TYRANT.

Awards

Commission, Music for Theater, Composition - In the Eruptive Mode: Hijacked Voices of the Arab Spring - 2016 - 2018 Tours

National Fulbright Award Semi-Finalist, Ghanaian Xylophone Proposal of Study in Ghana

Gear

Musser M55 Vibraphone

Yamaha Grand Piano

NordElectro4D

Saito Vibraphone

Jeremy Pelt: Soundtrack

Read "Soundtrack" reviewed by Jack Bowers

by Jack Bowers
May 25, 2022

Although Soundtrack is the name of trumpeter Jeremy Pelt's latest album (more about that in a moment), there is another selection that more readily summarizes Pelt's lyric philosophy: “I Love Music." And while there is ample contrast, camaraderie and color on the album, there is no doubt that Pelt's clear and creative commentaries are the focal point. As for that title, “Soundtrack" is simply the name of a twenty-year-old ballad written for but never recorded by one of Pelt's earlier ...

Profile

20 Seattle Jazz Musicians You Should Know: Brittany Anjou

by Paul Rauch
March 2, 2020

The city of jny: Seattle has a jazz history that dates back to the very beginnings of the form. It was home to the first integrated club scene in America on Jackson St in the 1920's and '30s. It saw a young Ray Charles arrive as a teenager to escape the nightmare of Jim Crow in the south. It has produced such historical jazz icons as Quincy Jones and Ernestine Anderson. In many instances it has acted as a temporary ...

Interview

Brittany Anjou: Visionary Soul

by Paul Rauch
September 6, 2019

I began a series of interviews with jny: Seattle-based musicians in the summer of 2016, with half being dedicated to female instrumentalists. After my last interview with bassist Chuck Deardorf, I was given a new piano trio release on the Seattle based Origin Records label by New York based, Seattle born and bred musician Brittany Anjou. Named Enamigo Reciprokataj, meaning reciprocal love in the international language Esperanto, the album is her unique take on the traditional jazz piano trio. While ...

Radio & Podcasts

The Women Who Wrote With Harold Arlen

by Mary Foster Conklin
March 15, 2019

Halfway through February Fundraising, this broadcast included new releases from pianist Brittany Anjou, saxophonist Jessica Jones, vocalists Kristen Lee Sergeant and Juno nominee Diana Panton, drummer Allison Miller's Boom Tic Boom plus a special release from duo Jeanne Lee & Ran Blake, with birthday shout outs to Blanche Calloway, Sergio Mendes and Nicole Mitchell, among others. In the third hour, a special birthday homage to Harold Arlen featuring the women writers who collaborated with him. Playlist Marsha Heydt ...

Album Review

Brittany Anjou: Enamiĝo Reciprokataj

Read "Enamiĝo Reciprokataj" reviewed by Dan Bilawsky

by Dan Bilawsky
January 26, 2019

There's a fascinating disjunction shaping the work of pianist Brittany Anjou. In one bend of being, her endeavors reflect extreme faith in the concept of catholicity. As a student of Esperanto--the “universal language" devised by Dr. Ludwig Lazarus Zamenhof in the late 19th century--and a musician warmly embracing an ecumenical approach, open lines and the ability to connect clearly play as prime factors in her art. But in an opposing arc there comes an air of mystery, a taste of ...

Recording

Pianist-Composer Brittany Anjou Introduces Sweeping, Original Vision On "Enamigo Reciprokataj," Set For Feb. 15 Release By Origin Records

Source: Terri Hinte Publicity
November 30, 2018

Pianist-composer Brittany Anjou blends the influences of a wide range of jazz and classical piano, and a fascination with the Esperanto language, on her stunning debut Enamiĝo Reciprokataj, set for a February 15 release on Origin Records. A trio album featuring bassist Greg Chudzik and drummer Nicholas Anderson (as well as two tracks with special guests, bassist Ari Folman-Cohen and drummer Ben Perowsky), it also includes 10 original compositions, highlighted by an eponymous five-part suite that showcases both Anjou’s ambition ...
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"The eclectic Brittany Anjou, a very gifted pianist with a classical imprint, whose compositions for the percussive use of the instrument recall some of McCoy Tyner's and the Blue Note school of the sixties. Accompanied by the drummer Shirazette Tinnin, and Umberto Lepore on the double bass, Brittany proposes a convincing live set." - Pietro Previti, Magazini Inexistenti, Italy

“Hers is a music about music, a jazz about jazz.” – Charles Mudede, The Stranger, Seattle

"On a planet full of original musicians, Brittany stands out." - Patrick Boyle, Take Five, University of Victoria, Canada