ARTIST AWARD: Tony Newton

TNT Xtreme’s music visionary, legendary composer-bassist-keyboardist-vocalist-producer, Tony Newton, is a musician’s hall of fame member who has performed on over 100 gold and platinum hit recordings. He can lay claim to playing on hits by Michael Jackson, Diana Ross & The Supremes and Stevie Wonder, amongst many others. Two of Tony’s Gold records were for his first renowned group, The Eighth Day, for She’s Not Just Another Woman and Crawl Before You Walk.

Tony played on several Number One hits: Where Did Our Love Go, Baby Love and Stop in the Name of Love by The Supremes, as well as Nowhere To Run by Martha and the Vandellas. He studied piano with teachers of Debussy and Donanyi and had the same composition & theory teacher of Frank Zappa, Dr. Matt Doran.

Acclaimed for his dynamic work with the famed jazzrock- fusion group, the Tony Williams Lifetime, Newton, one of the original architects of jazzrock-fusion penned the classic compositions, Snake Oil, Red Alert, and others. Tony also performed and composed with legendary guitarist and friend Robby Krieger from The Doors on Robby’s solo CD, Cinematrix.

Newton has a long musical history, participating on many hit recordings and tours, throughout his long and prolific musical career. Robby Krieger has famously referred to Tony Newton’s writing skills as “the Holy Grail of Rock & Roll or Jazz or any medium you can think of.”

This year, 2020, Tony Newton has received the Artist Of The Year Vision Award For Excellence, Innovation, Originality and Musicianship from the Academy Of Music Arts. He was given the award at a ceremony on April 24th. After an introduction from the hosts, Tony appears via video link and gives an inspiring, emotional speech about what a great era it is to be an independent artist.

He describes how he’s been able to follow his heart and pursue his spiritual vision of writing, performing and producing innovative music. His inspirational motto is, “Anything is possible”. He talks about how winning the award has inspired him to explore and expand, to an even greater depth, his musical creativity and to reach new fans around the world as he continues to achieve his musical goals.

He then performs a live rendition of his epic track Follow Your Heart, taken from his album White Light Collection (you can read my original review here). This is actually the shorter version of the song at eight minutes long and he’s backed by a highly talented group of musicians and backing vocalists.

It’s the perfect showcase for Tony’s unique Rock-Funk Fusion as well as a truly uplifting message. Tony gets to display his considerable virtuosity as a bass player, playing a 6-string bass. The music takes us through so many sections from the taut and funky verse to the gospel-infused final section. He really shines as a vocalist in this climactic part of the song and it was the ideal choice of material for this occasion.

Overall, this is a richly deserved award for a genuine music legend whose career spans all the way back to playing on classic Motown records and who now has developed a musical style all of his own. He’s a special artist who understands the spiritual power of music and uses it to uplift and inspire, so it’s gratifying to see him get such plaudits and well earned recognition from his peers.

 

VERDICT = Legend!

Alex Faulkner

Watch the award presentation ceremony here: