Bryan is back home in New York City for the rest of July, unless the phone rings! Unfortunately the same is now true of August as well. His previously planned trip to play with the LACJO in Austria has been cancelled – following his recent move to the USA, Bryan is temporarily unable to leave the country without authorization papers, which haven’t arrived in time to book flights. Apologies to the band, and to the students who had requested lessons. The good news is that Bryan will definitely be making the trip to play with Thomas Gansch in late October – lessons will be reorganised for during that tour.

The Gansch & Roses CD Launch Tour is set for October 29th – November 3rd, 2010; further information is on the Schedule page. The current plan is for Adam Rapa to be back with Thomas and Bryan in the Trumpet section once again. The early mixes of ‘Resal’ – the new CD – sound terrific. Included is Thomas’ tribute to Bill Chase – “Der Rock des Trompeters”. Here is the performance of this piece from last Autumn’s concert at Porgy & Bess in Vienna:

We look forward to sharing more information about the CD, as it becomes available. Bryan will be in Austria from October 27th to November 7th, so there will be plenty of opportunities to organise lessons/masterclasses.

Please check out the information in the Teaching section of the site if you wish to avail yourself of Bryan’s services as a Trumpet teacher for Private Lessons or Clinics, or as a guest artist with your School/College band. Don’t forget that Online Lessons via Webcam are available if you are elsewhere in the US, or indeed the world!

You can find all Bryan Davis’ contact information on the Contact page of this website. He looks forward to hearing from you soon!

We are pleased to announce that Bryan Davis has now joined the Artist Roster on JazzCorner.com – the premier portal for Jazz sites. Big thanks to Lois Gilbert, JazzCorner supremo, for welcoming Bryan to the family. In celebration of that, we will be upgrading and redesigning the site before long. Watch this space…

Have a great summer!

In December 2009, Bryan was on the road with the ‘Christmas with The Rat Pack – Live At The Sands’ holiday show. They spent a very pleasant, although colder than expected, 2 weeks in Dallas, TX, followed by a week in Hartford, CT. While in Dallas, Bryan had the opportunity to visit the University of North Texas and not only attend a rehearsal of the famed One O’Clock Lab Band, but also visit the Maynard Ferguson music collection at the UNT library. They have the entire surviving library from Maynard’s estate, some 400+ charts, and have archived and preserved it – a task that took a little over a year! A fascinating look into Jazz history!

During September and October 2009, Bryan Davis paid a couple of visits to Austria. During the first, he played a couple of concerts, and spent 3 days in the studio with Thomas Gansch and his band. For the studio sessions and the concert at Porgy & Bess in Vienna, the trumpet section was augmented by Adam Rapa – a wonderful trumpet player and great guy. Thomas wrote a few new tunes for this 3 trumpet line-up. These included his tribute to Bill Chase – ‘Der Rock des Trompeters’. Fans of high note trumpet are not going to disappointed when they hear the resulting CD. We are informed that the resulting CD, entitled ‘Resal’, will be released by the Schagerl Company; makers of fine brass instruments in Austria, including Thomas’ ‘Gansch-horn’. We hope to have news of a release date before long. In the meantime, you can enjoy a couple of videos from the Porgy & Bess concert including this one:-

Bryan returned to Austria at the end of September for the Autumn Tour with the LACJO – reprising their ‘Murdering The Classics’ programme. We are pleased to announce that the CD of this programme is now available. You can currently only order it directly from the LACJO website, although we understand that it should soon be available from the ORF Shop in Vienna (and online). We are inquiring as to whether there is any plan for international distribution – ultimately, it is likely that Bryan Davis will procure a few copies to sell through this site. More news about that as we have it.

(YouTube playlist embed currently not working – sorry!)

A playlist of songs from the Gansch and Roses concert in Frankenfels, Austria on 11th Sept. 2009.

Trumpets: Thomas Gansch, Bryan Davis | Trombone: Johannes Herrlich

Saxes/Woodwinds: Florian Truebsbach, Klaus Dickbauer
Piano: Oliver Kent | Bass: Uli Langthaler | Drums: Mario Gonzi

In December, Bryan will be hitting the road once more for a brief excursion with the “Christmas with The Rat Pack – Live At The Sands” holiday show. He will be in Dallas, TX from December 1st – 12th and then in Hartford, CT from December 15th – 20th.

In addition to live performances, Bryan Davis is always available to teach trumpet lessons and clinics, whether at home or elsewhere. For prospective students outside of the USA, online lessons via webcam are also available. The online lessons, in particular, are proving quite popular. All you need is a computer, webcam setup and the free Skype software. Bryan was, himself, sceptical about the usefulness of this system in teaching but, we are pleased to report, that he’s very pleased with how it works out! In celebration of his recent emigration, Bryan is currently offering a discount price on lessons in both formats. See the Teaching pages for details.

During September and October, Bryan Davis paid a couple of visits to Austria. First, he played a couple of concerts, and spent 3 days in the studio with Thomas Gansch and his band. For the studio sessions and the concert at Porgy & Bess in Vienna, the trumpet section was augmented by Adam Rapa – a wonderful trumpet player and great guy. Thomas wrote a few tunes for this 3 trumpet line-up; dubbed the ‘Trumpet Porn Suite’. These included his tribute to Bill Chase – ‘Der Rock des Trompeters’. Fans of high note ‘big’ trumpet are not going to disappointed when they hear the resulting CD. We hope to have details of a release in Spring 2010 before long. In the meantime, you can enjoy a couple of videos from the Porgy & Bess concert including this one:-

Bryan returned to Austria at the end of September for the Autumn Tour with the LACJO – reprising their ‘Murdering The Classics’ programme. They played 6 concerts. Unfortunately the first couple were rather poorly attended but the band is really hitting it’s stride! The final concert at Porgy & Bess in Vienna was particularly special! There is a provisional plan for European Tour in September 2010 – more details as they become available. We also imminently expect details of an release for the live LACJO CD they recorded at the inaugural concert in 2008. It should be initially available from the ORF broadcast network in Austria – details of worldwide distribution will follow shortly after. We will make the requisite announcements as soon as the details are confirmed.

I shall attempt to document the trip with photos and report in again when I can. Bye for now….

Just heard some interesting news! It’s been mentioned elsewhere on the site that I’m heading to Austria next week, to perform and record with Thomas Gansch and his band. He just let me know today that for the last 2 days in the studio, and at the Porgy & Bess gig on September 15th, we’ll be joined by the great Adam Rapa on Trumpet.

This trip was already going to be fun – now it’ll be unbelieveable!! Adam’s one of my favourite players on the scene at the moment. I’m really looking forward to meeting and playing with him! Photos etc to follow once we’re there!!

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!

Then, just as the LACJO tour was sorted out, Bryan ran into his dear friend Thomas Gansch on a Mnozil Brass date in Durham, UK. Thomas invited him to come back for a spell with his band Gansch & Roses for their concerts and recording dates in mid-September. So, Bryan will be back to visit his Austrian friends for a last hoorah, and a couple of weissbiers, before the big move.

The dates are in the Calendar; the concerts are on September 11th in Frankenfels and the 15th at Porgy & Bess in Vienna, with the Studio recording in between. Please come on out and see a concert and say hello!

Edit: Some lesson times will be available while Bryan is in Austria – certainly time will be available on September 15th before the concert at Porgy & Bess in Vienna. If there is sufficient interest in lessons or a masterclass, it may be possible for Bryan to organise his travel plans to spend an extra day or two in Vienna. Please contact Bryan very soon so this can be arranged.

Thomas Gansch and his band, live at the Porgy and Bess Jazz Club in Vienna; May 26th 2008. The piece is Thomas’ tribute to Bill Chase – “Der Rock Des Trompeters”

Trumpets: Thomas Gansch, Tobias Weidinger, Bryan Davis
Trombone: Dominik Stoeger
Saxes: Florian Truebsbach, Herwig “Hank” Gradischnig
Piano: Oliver Kent
Bass: Joschi Schneeberger
Drums: Mario Gonzi

The quality of this one is a little rough – seems to have been taken by a handheld camera from the back of the room.

This month sees Bryan Davis performing the last few dates of the Christmas With The Rat Pack UK tour. This will definitely be the last UK/European stint with the Rat Pack for a while. The show is on hiatus, except in the USA, until sometime later in the year, by which time Bryan should have finally made the move to New York. You can catch Bryan playing Lead Trumpet with the Rat Pack Big Band at the St Georges Hall in Bradford on the 2nd, the Grimsby Auditorium on the 3rd and the Liverpool Philharmonic on the 5th. Please stop by the Stage Door and say hello if you make it to any of these shows.

The rest of January will be spent subbing a few shows on Cinderella; the pantomime at the Alhambra Theatre, Bradford. Bryan will also be playing with the Pasadena Roof Orchestra at their concert in Leeds on the 18th. Other than that, Bryan will be catching up on real life at home! Following 38 weeks away on the road in 2008, as well as numerous other gigs, that should make for a welcome change! However, don’t be afraid to get in touch if you need a Trumpet player for your band!

Bryan is available, as ever, to teach Trumpet lessons whether at home or on the road. He is also available as Clinician and/or Guest Artist to come and work with School/Youth/College Bands. He was pleased to perform with the Jazz Band I at Fullerton College in Fullerton, California back in October 2008. He is pencilled in to coach the GCDYO Swing Band in Grimsby, UK in January this year. There will be a ‘Teaching’ page added to the site shortly with details about Bryan’s Educational activities. For more information in the meantime, please use the Contact page to get in touch.

Looking ahead, there are already some interesting gigs in Bryan’s diary for 2009. The Rat Pack – Live at the Sands US Tour starts again in late February. The show will be visiting Louisville KY, Dallas TX, Schenectady NY, Tampa Bay FL, Portland OR and Costa Mesa CA before the end of April. There are also 3 tours planned with the LACJO during 2009. There are Spring and Autumn tours in Austria and then, in late October, the band should be travelling to China to perform at the 11th China Shanghai International Arts Festival. There is a News item with more details about all of that. There is also a date with Ryan Quigley’s Big Band at the Glasgow Jazz Festival in June. 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!

A highlight of 2008 was Bryan’s trip to Austria in May with Thomas Gansch and his band. The first concert was at the Schagerl Brass Festival and part of that concert is featured on the Schagerl Brass Festival 2008 DVD. One of the tracks has found it’s way on to YouTube and we present it here for your enjoyment.