Great video of the Harry Connick Jr. band with Roger Ingram.

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Earlier today I ran across the following great video of the Harry Connick Jr band on YouTube. It looks like it’s from the “Swinging Out Live” concert video from the early ’90s, although it’s not a chart I remember – I think I only saw that concert on an edited version on British TV.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H9tVe_lS4Ns

The song is “Something’s Gotta Give”. It’s a great arrangement and the band is cooking. In particular, Roger Ingram is at his spectacular best on Lead Trumpet. This may be one of the best video examples I’ve seen of him!

September/October ’09

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September has turned into an unexpectedly busy month for Bryan Davis. He is now making two trips to Austria in between September 9th and early October. Firstly, he will be performing and recording with Thomas Gansch and his band; Gansch and Roses. They play at Musikverein Ötscherland, in Frankenfels, Lower Austria on September 11th. Then Thomas is taking the band into the studio to record his new CD. More information on that when we have it. Finally, on September 15th, they perform at the wonderul Porgy & Bess Jazz Club in Vienna. During the recording and at Porgy, Thomas has invited a special guest to join the band. The trumpet section will be augmented by the great Adam Rapa! This promises to be a great gig and tickets are already selling fast.

On September 26th, Bryan Davis will be returning to Austria once again; this time to play the 1st leg of the LACJO Autumn Tour. It was previously expected that Bryan would have emigrated by this late in the year and consequently he arranged for his friend and colleague Roger Ingram to play the tour in his place. Unfortunately, Roger has been required to fulfil some promotional commitments with Harry Connick Jr, at short notice, and is unable to make it to Austria on this occasion. Luckily, due to the delays in his move, Bryan is able to play the concerts after all. The Austrian dates on the tour are as follows:

  • 27/9/2009 – Festspielhaus, Bregenz
  • 28/9/2009 – Ursulinensaal, Innsbruck
  • 29/9/2009 – Stockingers Festsaal, Ansfelden
  • 30/9/2009 – Stockwerkjazz, Graz
  • 4/10/2009 – Altes Theater, Weitra
  • 5.10.2009 – Porgy & Bess, Wien

All concerts are scheduled to start at 8pm. There is also a tour to Shanghai, China, later in October. Roger Ingram will be playing these dates, as previously planned.

During both of these tours, as well as when he’s back in the UK in between, Bryan is available to teach private trumpet lessons and workshops. In addition to the dates listed above, he will also be staying in Vienna on September 16th and October 1st-3rd. If you would like to organise a lesson, please email Bryan to set it up. If you are not in the same part of the world as Bryan, please be aware that Online Lessons via Webcam are also available!

In addition to his touring activities, Bryan’s emigration to New York is now continuing apace. He will (finally) be making the move immediately after the LACJO tour, probably on October 8th. Providing the authorities grant him permission(!) he hopes to be playing the Rat Pack Christmas dates in Dallas, TX and Hartford, CT in December. More information about that in due course.

Friends and Heroes.

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I’ve been fortunate to play alongside some wonderful musicians on my travels over the past several years. I’ve also had the chance to meet some others who have long been my heroes. Here are some pictures with some of them – this album will keep growing as I have a chance to find some of my old photos!

July/August ’09

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Bryan Davis is still UK-based during August. 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 will be taking a trip up to Glasgow on Friday, 31st July to perform with the Ryan Quigley Big Band at their Maynard Ferguson Tribute. The gig takes place at The (Renfrew) Ferry, 25 Anderston Quay, Glasgow from 8pm. There is a news item with more details.

During August, Bryan is mostly playing for private events; as is typical during the summer months in the UK. He will also be playing a couple of dates with The Real Macaws; wandering around in town centres as they tend to! His principal activity will be finalising the sale of his house and getting ready to move to New York in mid-September!

Looking forward to September, Bryan will be visiting Austria to perform and record with his good friend Thomas Gansch. “Gansch & Roses” will be performing in Frankelfels, in Lower Austria, on September 11th. Following 3 days in the studio, they will be playing at the fabulous Porgy & Bess club in Vienna on the 15th. Some lesson times will be available while Bryan is in Austria; he will most likely come over a couple of days early to visit friends in Vienna so there will be more opportunities than usual! Please contact Bryan if you are interested in scheduling a lesson and we’ll set it up.

Later in September, and during October, the Lower Austria Concert Jazz Orchestra are touring again, in Austria and China! On this occasion, Bryan will be unable to perform with them due to his emigration. Instead, Roger Ingram will playing Lead Trumpet with the band. Apologies to the LACJO musicians and audience. Bryan intends to resume playing with the band in 2010.

The live LACJO recording from the first gig in St Polten in September ’08 is apparently mixed, mastered and ready to go! We hope to add details of that CD to Bryan’s discography very soon!

During July, Bryan had a great trip to Amsterdam, playing Lead Trumpet for Stephen Triffitt in his “Tribute to Frank Sinatra”. The local musicians, who made up the bulk of the band, did a tremendous job and the concert was a great success. Another notable gig was the Wigan Jazz Club Big Band’s concert on the final night of the Wigan Jazz Festival. In a double bill with singer Carol Kidd, the band closed the festival with a great set of music from the Stan Kenton library. The concert was a sell-out and the large audience were treated to some fantastic playing from a great band!

Checking In and Catching Up.

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It’s been some time since I’ve had an opportunity to sit down and write a blog post. Between preparations for my emigration and some gigs to play as well it’s been a busy few weeks! Some highlights have included:-

Ryan Quigley Big Band

I had a great visit up to Glasgow to play with Ryan Quigley‘s band at the end of June. It was tremendous to have an opportunity to play, and hang out, with Roger Ingram, who Ryan brought over from the US to play Lead Trumpet. The concert was a complete sell-out and the audience were, rightly, very enthusiastic about the band. Along with some great instrumental charts, we were also performing with Justin Currie; best known as lead singer with Del Amitri. I had a fantastic time in Glasgow and had the chance to enjoy some other concerts, as well as participating in the nightly festival Jam Sessions. Good times!

Stephen Triffit’s Frank Sinatra Tribute

We had an enjoyable, although tiring, visit to Amsterdam in early July with Stephen Triffitt. We performed his “Tribute to Frank Sinatra” at the beautiful Theater Carre. It was a long couple of days, between travelling and much rehearsing but it was great to see some friends from the Rat Pack crew and band, as well as meeting so many fantastic Dutch musicians. The local musicians, who made up the majority of the band, did a wonderful job. I hope we’ll have another opportunity to get back there and do it all again on some other occasion.

Wigan Jazz Club Big Band

Last night, we had a fantastic concert at the 24th Wigan International Jazz Festival. I was filling in on Lead Trumpet for my good friend Neil Morley; we played the second half of a concert shared with the wonderful Carol Kidd. The Wigan Jazz Club Big Band played about 70 mins of Stan Kenton charts and made a fabulous job of this difficult music. I was particularly pleased to see Terry Reaney among the Trumpet section. Terry was, in years gone by, a stalwart of the Syd Lawrence Orchestra and I always enjoyed his playing. It was great to share my section duties with him – it’s always an education to play alongside musicians of such experience! Many thanks to Neil for asking me to do the gig and to bandleader Ian Darrington for his kind words about my playing!

Coming Up….

I’m pleased to be heading back to Austria in September to play and record with Thomas Gansch and the “Roses”. There’s more information about that on the News page. Hopefully this will be my last gig in Europe before my emigration to New York; I’m certainly trying to organise my calendar that way. We’ll see….