July ’09

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Bryan Davis will still be based in Leeds, UK during this month. He is available to teach lessons and workshops, as well as for gigs of any kind. If you are based elsewhere in the UK, or indeed the world, but are interested in taking a lesson with Bryan, please be aware that Online Lessons via Webcam are also available.

Bryan’s emigration to the USA has been temporarily delayed while he finishes tidying up the loose ends of his life in the UK. He hopes to be moving to New York before too much longer – hopefully sometime during August.

Included in this month’s activities are a trip to Amsterdam, Holland. Bryan will be travelling as Lead Trumpet with Stephen Triffitt, to play his “Tribute to Frank Sinatra” at the Theater Carre. Bryan will be arriving in Amsterdam on Tuesday the 7th, playing the show on Wednesday the 8th and returning home on the 9th. Lesson times should be available on Tuesday lunchtime and Wednesday morning. Please visit the Lessons page and contact Bryan to set it up if you are interested.

On Saturday, 18th July, Bryan will be playing Lead Trumpet with the Wigan Jazz Club Big Band at the final concert of the Wigan Jazz Festival 2009. This concert is a Double Bill with Carole Kidd and her band in the 1st half and the Wigan Jazz Club band playing a Stan Kenton programme in the 2nd half. Tickets are on sale and can be purchased by calling the Box Office on 01942 825677.

On June 27th, Bryan performed at the Glasgow Jazz Festival with the Ryan Quigley Big Band. He had the tremendous pleasure of sharing his section duties with Roger Ingram, Noel Langley and Ryan himself. The concert was recorded by BBC Scotland and highlights will be broadcast on the Jazz Line Up programme on BBC Radio 3 in a few weeks. We will post details of that broadcast when we have them. For much of the concert, the band were backing Justin Currie; lead singer and founder member of Del Amitri. A number of songs have appeared on YouTube. We hope you enjoy this version of “Nature Boy”:

June ’09

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Bryan Davis is based in Leeds, UK during this period. He is available to teach lessons and workshops, as well as for gigs of any kind. If you are based elsewhere in the UK, or indeed the world, but are interested in taking a lesson with Bryan, please be aware that Online Lessons via Webcam are also available.

Returning visitors are most likely aware that Bryan has been planning for some time to move to the USA. We are pleased to announce that he recently received his Visa. He will be moving to New York soon; most likely in late July 2009. Following a short period upon arrival when his residence will be pending, Bryan Davis will be available for performance and teaching opportunities of all kinds in the USA.

Before leaving the UK, Bryan will be keeping busy with various activities, including a jazz recording project – more about that as the details are firmed up. He is slowly getting back into the freelance scene and, this month, will be playing dates with the Nick Ross Orchestra and will also be covering a couple of shows on the West Side Story UK National Tour. He will also be performing at the Glasgow Jazz Festival on the 27th of June with the Ryan Quigley Big Band. This promises to be a great concert with Bryan sharing his section duties with Roger Ingram, Noel Langley and the leader.

Looking ahead to July, Bryan will be travelling to Holland with Stephen Triffitt to play Lead Trumpet on his “Salute To Sinatra” showcase in Amsterdam. He will also be performing with the Wigan Jazz Club Big Band on July 18th on the last night of the Wigan Jazz Festival.

If you’re looking for further news about the Bryan Davis Podcast, we should have a new episode available soon. Bryan’s busy schedule and a brief bout of illness have prevented him from recording anything recently. He promises to rectify this soon!

April/May ’09

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During April, Bryan Davis will be playing the last 2 weeks on The Rat Pack – Live At The Sands US National Tour. The show visits the Keller Auditorium in Portland, Oregon from April 7th-12th, and then the Segerstrom Hall at the OCPAC in Costa Mesa, California from the 14th-19th. There are lesson/clinic spaces available in both these cities – please check the Teaching section of the site for more details. These are the last Rat Pack dates for a while – there are apparently plans for the show to start up again later in the year but we have no specific details about that at the moment.

Following the end of the US Tour, Bryan will be returning to the UK to finalise his emigration to the USA. He will be home in Leeds until early July – at which time he should be, finally, making the move. He will be available for any and all performance and teaching opportunities during this period. If you’d like to take a lesson with Bryan but have been putting it off, don’t delay!

A highlight during March was Bryan’s trip to Austria to play with the Lower Austrian Concert Jazz Orchestra on their Spring Tour. The band played six concerts in Lower Austria and the final performance, in Schloss Grafenegg, was filmed. Hopefully, there will be sufficient footage to produce a DVD. The inaugural concert last September was recorded and will be released on CD during the coming months. Early mixes sound great and we hope that the final product will capture a good amount of the excitement this fine band generates! There is another LACJO tour planned for the Autumn. Unfortunately, depending on the progress of Bryan’s emigration, he is unlikely to be able to leave the USA to perform on that occasion but he will be back for the tours in 2010.

Looking ahead to May, Bryan will be attending the TrumpetParty 2009 in Noordwijk, Holland on Sunday the 17th. The concert features a number of wonderful players including Roger Ingram, Eric Miyashiro and Lee Thornburg. Bryan is very much looking forward to having the opportunity to see these wonderful musicians perform live. He will also be attending Roger Ingram’s clinic at the event. If you are also there, please come and say hello!

Speaking of Roger Ingram, Bryan will performing alongside him at the Glasgow Jazz Festival on June 27th. They are both playing in the Ryan Quigley Big Band. Ryan is a tremendous trumpet player in his own right and one of the leading lights on the Scottish scene. He has put together a great band for the festival and it should be a great concert.

There has been some great feedback about the new Bryan Davis podcast – details of which can be found on the homepage of the site. Please take a listen and contact Bryan with any feedback or suggestions for topics he can speak about. New episodes will be added at least once a month and hopefully more regularly than that.

Bryan Davis is available to teach Private Lessons and Clinics, whether at home or on the road. Online Lessons via webcam are also now available. If you would like to organise a lesson, please check Bryan’s schedule to find out if he is visiting your city (or when he might have time to meet you online) and then contact him directly to set it up.

Finally, the video clips which have been a feature at the bottom of this page for the past few months can now be found in the Media section of the site, along with Bryan’s Discography and Photo Galleries. Enjoy!