Postmodern Jukebox

Origins

The origins of Postmodern Jukebox came when Bradlee began shooting videos with his close friends from college in his small basement apartment in Astoria, Queens. This original group included bassist Chris Anderson, saxophonist Ben Golder-Novick, harpist Brandee Younger, and vocalist Emma Walker.

Bradlee struggled post-college as a jazz musician in the New York City area for years before hitting it big with his first viral video in 2009 – “a medley of ‘80s songs done ragtime style.” A tweet from famed author Neil Gaiman was the beginning of his eventual online viral popularity.

In 2011, a precursor to the Postmodern Jukebox concept emerged in the form of Bradlee’s project A Motown Tribute to Nickelback. It was this video that introduced the world to many PMJ featured performers including bassist Adam Kubota, drummer Allan Mednard, emcee Drue Davis, sax / EWI player / producer Steve Ujfalussy (also known as ’90s R&B icon “Steve Sweat” from Saturday Morning Slow Jams) and Tambourine Guy, Tim Kubart.

2012-present

With over 1 million views in its first week, and 4 million in its first year, Robyn Adele Anderson's cover of Macklemore & Ryan Lewis', "Thrift Shop" (2012) was Postmodern Jukebox's first viral music video. The breakout track was included on Introducing Postmodern Jukebox (2013) and eventually found its way to a #8 position on Billboard magazine's Jazz Albums chart. This success was followed by her cover of Miley Cyrus’, “We Can't Stop” in 2013, landing the band a performance spot on Good Morning America (ABC) in September.

In late 2013, Postmodern Jukebox was invited into the New York City offices of Cosmopolitan magazine to film a year-end tribute to 2013, covering the year's hit songs with arrangements transitioning through various genres and time periods. The "Just Another Day at the Office" mashup features: Robyn Adele Anderson singing “Blurred Lines”, Cristina Gatti singing "Holy Grail", Anderson and the Tee Tones singing “We Can't Stop”, Karen Marie singing "Roar", Ashley Stroud singing "Royals" and Andromeda Turre singing "What Does The Fox Say?". The production was completed in a single take, and a companion behind-the-scenes video was also produced.

In 2014, guest artist Kate Davis performed a cover of Meghan Trainor's, "All About That Bass" (2014), in Scott Bradlee's living room after three hours of practice. Davis performs and solos on the upright bass while singing the song and recalls the occasion, "I knew the song, probably could have done it on the fly. Maybe that's why it's so funny. I remember thinking it was so funny at the time I was going to crack up, maybe five times." The 1940s arrangement and piano accompaniment is by Bradlee with Dave Tedeschi on drums. The single was a success, catching the attention of Time magazine, Billboard magazine, the Huffington Post and PBS NewsHour. As of February 2017, the music video has over 16,570,000 YouTube views, and the song is track 11 on PMJ's Historical Misappropriation (2014) album.

BuzzFeed featured a doo-wop cover of "Timber," with Robyn Adele Anderson and The Tee Tones fronting, in February 2014. The group's cover of Radiohead’s seminal ‘90s hit “Creep,” performed by Haley Reinhart, was called a “stunning listen” by the Los Angeles Times in April 2015.

In 2015, Broadway actress Shoshana Bean became active with the group as a guest artist when Scott moved to Los Angeles. Broadway World raved about Bean's performance of Sia's, "Chandelier," at the Segerstrom Center for the Arts in Costa Mesa, California, and Billboard magazine did a feature story on her Motown makeover of Justin Bieber's "Sorry." Bean joined the Postmodern Jukebox 2016 spring European tour at its midway point.

Sara Niemietz first performed with the cast in August 2015, covering the Talking Heads', "This Must Be the Place (Naive Melody)" (1983), PMJ's rendition of "Hey Ya!" (2003) by Outkast, a Dixieland arrangement of Justin Bieber’s "Love Yourself" (2015), and a club-jazz version of the "Theme to Pokemon." Niemietz joined the band's Northeastern leg of its 2015 U.S. tour and the entire 2016 European tour. MTV U.K. caught up with the show in London and spotlighted a big band cover version of Elle King's "Ex's & Oh's" (2014) featuring Niemietz on vocals and Sarah Reich tap dancing.

In early February 2016, Postmodern Jukebox covered the late David Bowie’s classic song "Heroes" in honor of World Cancer Day – featuring vocals by Nicole Atkins. The track 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”) with PMJ’s cover of “Heroes” as the soundtrack. At the same time, PMJ launched a program called "Reboxed," consisting of new versions of songs that had already been covered by PMJ. The first Reboxed song was Niemietz (and the Sole Sisters) singing "Bad Romance" which had previously been sung by Ariana Savalas (feat. Sarah Reich tap dancing).

Touring

On February 24, 2016, Postmodern Jukebox co-headlined the Dubai Jazz Festival, alongside Sting, Toto, Chris Botti, and David Gray.

On February 26, 2016, the band kicked off a 75-date European tour at Vicar Street in Dublin, Ireland, wrapping on June 3, 2016 in Athens, Greece.

In April 2016, PMJ announced a 45-stop fall North American tour, kicking off on September 29, 2016 at the Vets in Providence, Rhode Island, and wrapping on November 27, 2016 in Mesa, Arizona.

In May 2016, PMJ announced a 16-city Australia/New Zealand tour, which is to kick off on August 29, 2016 at the Isaac Theatre Royal in Christchurch, wrapping on September 20, 2016 at the Perth Concert Hall.

Creator and founder

Guest musicians

The band has featured the following artists as guest musicians:

Guest vocalists

Several former American Idol finalists have found success as part of Postmodern Jukebox’s ensemble, including Blake Lewis (Season 6), Melinda Doolittle (season 6), Haley Reinhart (Season 10), Casey Abrams (Season 10), and DeAndre Brackensick (season 11). Four Season 14 finalists have also performed lead vocals for the group: Joey Cook, Rayvon Owen, Clark Beckham, and JAX. Additionally, vocalists Aubrey Logan, Von Smith, and Brielle Von Hugel are Idol alums who went through the audition process but did not advance to the finals in any season.

The band has featured the following artists as guest vocalists and performers: