Bryan is spending the festive season back in the UK, primarily fulfilling dates on the Christmas with the Rat Pack UK tour. He will be in Glasgow, Manchester, Gateshead, Birmingham, Sheffield, Harrogate, Dundee and Hull between the 1st and the 18th. The rest of the month will be spent playing the usual round of Christmassy gigs (functions and pantomime deps!) and celebrating with friends and family!

In addition to playing the shows, Bryan is available to teach private lessons, whether he’s on the road or at home! If this is of interest to you then please check the Calendar to find out when he’s visiting your city, then visit the Contact page and get in touch so we can set it up. Given his increasing involvement in education, there will be a Teaching page added to the site shortly, with further details about Private lessons as well as Clinics/Workshops.

Following the difficulties with the website at the end of October, we are pleased to say that it is more or less up and running again. The last thing to re-add is Bryan’s Discography – this will rematerialise before long and feature the addition of a DVD of NYJO that was recently released, recorded at the Proms back in around 2000. More details when the page returns!

Looking ahead to 2009, there are already some interesting gigs in Bryan’s diary, including an Austrian tour with LACJO, the continuation of the Rat Pack – Live At The Sands US Tour and a date with Ryan Quigley’s Big Band at the Glasgow Jazz Festival. Ryan is a fine Trumpet player who is well known in the Scottish Jazz scene. His band is likely to include such luminaries as Nigel Hitchcock (alto), Mark Nightingale (tbn) and possibly even Wayne Bergeron and Roger Ingram (tpts). Should be a lot of fun! Between those confirmed dates and Bryan’s emigration to the USA, it promises to be a busy year for him, so please check back here often for more news!

Happy Holidays!