February sees the recommencement of The Rat Pack – Live At The Sands US National Tour. Bryan will be flying out to Louisville, Kentucky at the end of the month to get started again. The tour is visiting 6 cities between February 26th and April 19th. The dates are as follows:-
- 26th February – March 1st :- The Kentucky Center, Louisville, KY
- 3rd – 8th March :- Majestic Theatre, Dallas, TX
- 10th – 15th March :- Proctors Theater, Schenectady, NY
- 24th – 29th March :- Carol Morsani Hall, Tampa, FL
- 7th – 12th April :- Keller Auditorium, Portland, OR
- 14th – 19th April :- OJPAC, Costa Mesa, CA
Bryan will be performing at all these venues with the exception of Schenectady – this clashes with the Spring tour with the Lower Austria Concert Jazz Orchestra. While Bryan is away in Austria, he will be ably replaced by Augie Haas – a wonderful Miami-based trumpeter who played the show a couple of years ago when the tour travelled to West Palm Beach, FL. Many thanks to Augie for taking the gig on.
The LACJO tour dates can be checked on Bryan’s calendar or on the news item you’ll see listed in the sidebar. We’re visiting 6 towns/cities over 7 days. Bryan will also have the chance to enjoy a day off in Vienna – one of his favourite cities in the world. He’s very much looking forward to catching up with so many dear friends who live there.
Before all of that, Bryan is spending the early part of February catching up with life at home. He’s now getting set for his emigration to New York. The good news is that his Visa is approved. The bad news is that it’s not available straight away if he’s to fulfil his touring commitments. He should get it soon after the end of Rat Pack US dates in April and hopes to make the move shortly after that. In the meantime, he will find time to visit his friends at the Gordon Tetley Big Band in Bradford each Monday in February. In addition to this, he will also be performing as part of the Leeds Schools Big Band concerts – a week of concerts in schools. The band mostly comprises Music teachers from the Leeds area under the direction of Dale Gibson – a wonderful trumpet player best known as Lead Trumpet with the Glenn Miller Orchestra UK. It promises to be a lot of fun, as well as a great opportunity to introduce live music to local children – something they may not otherwise be exposed to in this day and age!
During January, Bryan was delighted to have the chance to coach the GCDYO Swing Band at two of their weekly rehearsals. This was a special event for him as it was the first Big Band he ever played with, when he was a teenager. Many thanks to Leo Solomon, their Musical Director, for the invitation.
Bryan is available for teaching opportunities of all kinds, whether at home or on tour. Please contact him for further details about one-to-one lessons, clinics and ‘Guest Artist’ performances. He is also in the process of ironing out the logisitics of offering Online Lessons via webcam. There will more information added to the site about all of this before long.
Finally, if you’re looking for any of the video clips that have been lurking at the bottom of this page for the past few months, they can now be found on the new Media page. Happy viewing!