Today we’d like to introduce you to Sabrii Anderson.
Sabrii, can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today.
I have had my hand in writing, recording, and performing a lot of different music with many different musicians, and as long as it gives me goosebumps, I simply see good music for being good music. You may recognize me under my stage name “Briiz”; I am a composer, music producer, and performer of woodwinds proud to be born and raised in Houston, Texas. I started out my career in classical music studies, playing the clarinet in middle school. The passion I developed for music compelled me to start teaching myself the flute and saxophone with the help of mentors and peers (the latter in keeping with my appreciation and desire to play jazz) in addition to writing my first compositions for concert band by the time I turned 14.
Through opportunities I got from performing in the symphony orchestra, I went on to perform for the Honors Performance Series in Carnegie Hall and with the American Festival for the Arts where I was chosen as their 2014-2015 Young Artist Winner and representative. While developing my performance career, I continued to compose and record my own compositions where many were first seen on YouTube, also revealing modest beginnings in my career as a music producer. Since studying music at the University of North Texas, I have been busy finding my niche back in Houston, recording and performing as a Jazz musician while also teaching woodwind instruments. I’m excited in anticipation of the release later this year of my debut project “OVERLOOKED” that I produced, recorded live instruments for, and contributed all original songwriting for!
Has it been a smooth road?
Never a smooth road! One of the first walls I had to face (and still face) was integrating myself into the Houston Jazz community after spending so much time performing classical music. As a high school student, I was always fairly familiar with the names and faces that made a difference in the Jazz scene in town, but I was also well aware that they were on a different plane than I was, and that I had none of the experience and work that they had in order to deliver like I saw them do. Even after I came back to Houston with some of that training, guidance, and challenges thrown at me from peers and mentors alike, it took some practice to even show up & show out with my own skills! I had to get out there, even while not feeling confident in my own abilities. As long as I kept doing that, I would keep finding more of the people I sought out, including some of the musicians I looked up to.
What else should our readers know?
A lot of my favorite memories from childhood involve when I would be taken to visit downtown Houston. It didn’t take any convincing to realize how special it is to have such a presence of diversity, ambition, art, and culture that you could see on display when you come. A special time of year that I really still do miss is the International Festival, where a ton of food, dancing, clothing, and other vendors and businesses would show up. It was like the whole world was in Houston, and it made me feel really proud to go nearly every year.
Is our city a good place to do what you do?
I would definitely say there are a wealth of opportunities and communities to start working with a network of musicians like I do. One of the best things I would say from the perspective of my young career to someone that moves here is to definitely just show up where live music is happening. Show up where musicians in your field are working, introduce yourself (and your sound too, if they’re willing) find some rehearsal spaces/studios, find some other performance venues, keep showing up, and **keep branching out! When you settle in one place, Houston is so vast that it’s easy to think you can only find a niche in a handful of places. Only criticism I might have right now is for Houston to stop spreading out so that us musicians can keep up with the new places that keep sprouting up!
Pricing:
- $50/hr instrumental studio work
Contact Info:
- Website: [Tune into this YouTube channel] https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCKZZc9HXgAI8pHgcTwXLoiw
- Email: shredthechanges@gmail.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/briizanderson/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/BriizMusic/
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/mistabriiz
- Other: Single Underestimated available to stream and buy! https://briiz.bandcamp.com/track/underestimated-2
Image Credit:
Ubeja Anderson, Victoria Cashman, Kiera J. Scott
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