Music Bryan Carter is primarily known for his work in
Jazz and Improvisational music. He has performed/recorded with
Wynton Marsalis,
Jon Batiste,
Kenny Barron,
McCoy Tyner,
Marcus Roberts,
Kurt Elling,
Kris Bowers,
Steven Feifke,
Emmet Cohen,
Braxton Cook,
Marquis Hill,
Veronica Swift,
Martina DaSilva,
Michael Feinstein and
Steve Tyrell. As a
bandleader, Carter tours with his band, “Bryan Carter & The Swangers” which he describes as a diverse semi-
acoustic band built upon a foundation of brash
eclecticism as well as its expanded “concert-driven” counterpart, “The Swangers Orchestra. In 2024, Bryan Carter premiered his seven-movement jazz
oratorio titled "Rustin in Renaissance" at
Jazz at Lincoln Center's Appel Room. The piece highlights the life of civil rights pioneer
Bayard Rustin and is scored for a 35-piece ensemble with four featured vocalists. It received critical acclaim, with
Will Friedwald of the
New York Sun stating, "Carter is the young musician who, in the current century, is doing the best job of anyone at navigating between the worlds of jazz and musical theater... He's the perfect individual to mastermind an evening of music dedicated to Bayard Rustin". In 2026, he won the
Grammy Award for Best Arrangement, Instrumental or A Cappella for "
Super Mario Praise Break" alongside
Charlie Rosen and
Matthew Whitaker. In 2022, Carter contributed additional
orchestrations to
Michael R. Jackson's
Pulitzer Prize winning musical, “
A Strange Loop”. He co-orchestrated “
Some Like It Hot”, a Broadway musical based on the film of the same name. He has as performed with
Tituss Burgess,
Laura Osnes,
Gavin Creel,
Kristin Chenoweth, and
Aaron Tveit. Bryan Carter is the first black
orchestrator to win the "
Outer Critics Circle Award" for "
Outstanding Orchestrations." Carter and his co-orchestrator
Charlie Rosen are the first orchestrators to win the
Outer Critics Circle Award,
The Drama Desk Award, and
The Tony Award in a single season. In 2025, Carter served in seven creative roles, including music direction and orchestrations, for
George Clooney and
Grant Heslov's play
Good Night, and Good Luck. It is the highest grossing play in Broadway history, and is the first play to surpass a gross of $4 million in a single week. Carter also continued in these creative roles, including co-music supervision alongside
Daniel Kluger (composer), for a live
CNN broadcast on June 7, 2025, making it the first live televised performance of a Broadway show.
Film/Television Bryan Carter served as the house drummer for
NBC’s summer
variety show “
Maya & Marty” starring
Maya Rudolph,
Martin Short and
Keenan Thompson. The show featured special guests in musical segments
Jimmy Fallon,
Steve Martin and
Nick Jonas. In 2021 and 2022 Bryan Carter worked on “
The Not-Too-Late Show with Elmo” and “
Sesame Street”. Carter has appeared as the guest drummer on
NBC's "
Late Night with Seth Meyers".
Awards and nominations == Personal life ==