Bryan Davis will be returning to Austria this Autumn! He will be playing with Thomas Gansch and the Roses from November 1-3, 2012. Thomas has reformed the band from the Resal CD – including Adam Rapa on trumpet – for these dates. We don’t have any more details than that right now, but we’ll post them when we do!

Bryan will, as usual, be available to teach trumpet lessons and/or masterclasses while he is in Austria. If you are in the area and would be interested in that, or in organising another performance, please contact him!

Bis bald!

High time for a new homepage update on here! Thanks to the faithful few who have been looking in from time to time to see what I was up to last Summer. Your reward will be in the form of a site redesign which is coming very soon…

Life in NYC has been continuing apace since last I had time to write here. Both my musical life and my ‘other job’ (as a web developer) have been busier than ever!

2011 finished, and 2012 started, with my being back in the UK. I made a welcome return to The Rat Pack – Live from Las Vegas for a limited engagement in London’s West End. Great fun to be back playing the show and marvellous to see so many friends, old and new! A bonus was being over there to see my family at Christmas time, although it was at the expense of the planned visit to my wife’s family in Los Angeles; no winter sun for me!!

Since my return to New York in late January, I’ve been keeping busier than ever and playing with an array of fun groups. I’ve written about the one of the more incredible – the Fundraiser for Clark Terry – already in the blog section of this site. What a remarkable event that was!!

Looking forward to the next couple of months, I’ll be playing with Mr Ho’s Orchestrotica Big Band once again – we’re playing the music of Juan Garcia Esquivel in Bethlehem, PA on May 27th. This is actually a gig to replace the one cancelled by the Hurricane last Summer! We also have a second gig a month later, but I’m not permitted to give any details about that yet. More information soon…

Another upcoming performance will be on June 5th with Mike Longo’s NY State of the Art Jazz Ensemble at the Baha’i Center in NYC. Mr Longo was sideman to, and Musical Director for, the late, great Dizzy Gillespie for many years. His writing and playing are extraordinary, and the band formidable! Please come and check it out if you’re nearby.

Enough for now. Thanks again for looking in.

BD

Just stopping by to quickly wish anybody reading a very Happy New Year! I’ll be back with more news shortly (things are about to get shaken up here on the site) as I have time to write it, in between shows – I’m in London playing the Rat Pack in the West End for a few weeks.

During the month of July, I’m home in New York; firmly ensconced in the usual routine of practising, teaching and playing rehearsals and gigs in and around the city. One exception, that takes me a little further afield, is a gig on July 10th up in Springfield, MA. On this occasion, I’ll be playing Lead Trumpet with Kendrick Oliver’s New Life Jazz Orchestra for their performance at the Hoop City Jazz and Art Festival. If you’re in the area, I hope to see you there – details are on my Schedule page.

Looking back to June, I had a great trip back to the UK, visiting family and friends and doing some playing and teaching. One highlight while I was there was resurrecting the “Quarter To Four” band at Grimsby Jazz. We had a great time playing and it was so nice to see so many old friends, both on and off the bandstand. I made a reference recording of the evening and have posted a couple of samples in my Soundcloud account – they are linked elsewhere on the site.

Just before I left for the UK, I spent a chop-bursting evening at the Tea Lounge in Brooklyn, attempting to play the lead book with The Chase Experiment. Bandleader Jackie Coleman has painstakingly transcribed much of the music of Chase; the iconic Trumpet-section-led Jazz/Rock group devised by former Woody Herman lead trumpet, Bill Chase. I’ve enjoyed that music for a long time and playing it gave me a new appreciation for what a monstrous player he was!

Upon my return to New York, I played with the Nathan Parker Smith Large Ensemble for the Jazz Vespers service at St Peter’s Church. Nathan has written some great, if slightly unconventional, music and it was tremendous fun to play something a bit different. I look forward to playing with them again soon.

Hope you’re having a great summer.

BD