Last month, Brian Newman: After Dark wrapped up its latest run at Park MGM’s Nomad Library in Las Vegas. The show is the vision, come to life, of singer, musician and Lady Gaga bandleader, Brian Newman.

One evening in July, CYInterview was on hand for one of the shows [see here]. What we witnessed was a gathering of compelling performers, with special appearances by some of Las Vegas’s great entertainers.

Brian Newman: After Dark is slated to return to the Entertainment Capital of the World in the near future.

Speaking to us about how he came up with this variety entertainment show, which has been bringing the Las Vegas performing arts community together, Mr. Newman said this:

“I always knew Las Vegas was full of talent and you know, it’s just about finding that talent and putting it on a pedestal and bringing it to be able to showcase it so that other people can see it in different ways.”

For anyone who is interested in seeing Brian Newman: After Dark when it returns to Las Vegas, this is how Mr. Newman, who plays trumpet in the show, describes the production:

“There’s a lot of people trying to do this show in Las Vegas and it just never hits the mark. It’s the kind of show where it’s often imitated, but never duplicated. But at the same time, I’m not reinventing anything. I didn’t invent this show. It’s a show that been around for a hundred years. You know, it’s variety. It’s not just about jazz.”

Speaking of jazz, Mr. Newman is the bandleader for Lady Gaga’s jazz concerts. They also take place at Park MGM. Brian has a long history of working with the Poker Face singer. Speaking about their relationship, he said this:

“I started playing with her. She used to come in and sit in with us. The first time she sang with us was at Brian Newman After Dark, probably around 2011, 2010. And that was at this little club in Tribeca called Duane Park. And she came down there, sang Someone Watch Over Me. You know, I think we were friends, I was friends with her before that. I was a bartender. She was a go-go dancer at a little club that I bartended at in the Lower East side. I watched her grow. We knew we were both musicians.”

Summing up what it is like to be Gaga’s bandleader, for her jazz concerts here in Las Vegas, he said this:

“I learn so much from her every time we play together. It’s just so important to me to make sure that she’s comfortable, to make sure she has the music that she wants and she can just float. We want to give her a nice bed, a bed of roses to walk over. You know what I mean. That’s my job as bandleader to just make sure it’s all good for her and that’s really fun for me and the boys. … To be able to arrange music for a 30 piece orchestra on a huge stage in Las Vegas is a dream come true.”

You can hear more from Brian Newman on his Las Vegas show, Lady Gaga and Tony Bennett by listening to the entire CYInterview below:

Listen to the entire Brian Newman CYInterview:

Listen to the entire Brian Newman CYInterview on YouTube:

You can find Brian Newman’s website by clicking here.

Find Brian Newman on Instagram by clicking here.

Find Brian Newman on Facebook by clicking here.

Find Brian Newman on Twitter by clicking here.