Performer Details
Performer Bio Synopsis
In 1960 the first extracurricular student jazz group at the University of Central Oklahoma was formed. A decade later, Dr. Kent Kidwell formalized a student jazz ensemble as a formal class and founded our modern jazz program. Shortly after, Dr. Kidwell’s groups began receiving top honors at many nationally respected jazz festivals. With the notable addition of faculty member Lee Rucker in 1980, jazz at Central has now grown to include eleven student jazz groups with multiple undergraduate and graduate jazz degree offerings. UCO big bands, combos and individual students have received numerous awards and honors for outstanding performances at events held around the world!
Shortly after our current Director of Jazz Studies Brian Gorrell took over leadership of our flagship UCO Jazz Ensemble I in 2009, the group was invited to perform at both the 50th anniversary of the Jazz à Juan Festival in France and the Umbria Jazz Festival in Italy, culminating in a major European tour in 2010. Our top students then performed as a featured guest at the Jazz Education Network (JEN) Conference in Louisville in January 2012. In March 2012, the same group was named a winner for Large Jazz Ensemble in Downbeat Magazine’s 35th Annual Student Music Awards. In December 2013, the group was one of only two collegiate jazz ensembles nationwide selected to perform at the Midwest Clinic in Chicago. In January 2011, 2013, 2015, 2017 and 2020, the group was selected to perform the honors jazz concert closing set at the Oklahoma Music Educators Annual Conference in Tulsa. The group was again recognized by Downbeat Magazine’s Student Music Awards in 2016 and 2019 for outstanding performance in the large graduate ensemble category. They were honored to tie first place in the collegiate ensemble division of the Monterey Next Generation Jazz Festival in March 2018 and were thrilled to give two performances at the actual Monterey Jazz Festival in September 2018. After again performing at the 10th Annual JEN Conference in Reno in 2019 with Bob Mintzer, being cited for a third time in Downbeat Magazine’s 42nd Annual Student Music Awards for outstanding performance in the large jazz ensemble category was icing on the cake, along with more recent invitations to perform at the Midwest Clinic again in 2021 and at the Montreux Jazz Festival in Switzerland in July 2022!
In addition to offering a Minor in Jazz Studies and Oklahoma’s only Master of Music in Jazz Studies, we also offer Oklahoma’s only Bachelor of Music in Jazz Performance as well. The UCO Jazz Program is housed at a one-of-a-kind facility called the UCO Jazz Lab:
www.ucojazzlab.com
Conductor's Bio
Brian W. Gorrell serves as Director of Jazz Studies for the nationally respected program at the University of Central Oklahoma Jazz Lab in Edmond, Oklahoma. A former member of the Lawrence Welk Orchestra among other professional accolades, he also serves as Advisor for UCO’s Master of Music in Jazz Studies and Bachelor of Music in Jazz Performance, teaches Applied Saxophone, and directs the award winning "UCO Jazz Ensemble I". Under his direction, UCO’s top jazz group has been recognized for outstanding large ensemble performances in Downbeat Magazine's Annual Student Music Awards in 2012, 2016, and 2019. The group also performed once before at the Midwest Clinic in December 2013 and at Jazz Education Network (JEN) Conferences in 2012, 2013, 2017, and 2019. UCO’s Jazz Ensemble 1 also notably tied first place in the collegiate jazz ensemble division at the prestigious Monterey Next Generation Jazz Festival in March 2018 and was featured on the main stages of the Monterey Jazz Festival in September 2018. Professor Gorrell has presented lectures on jazz and saxophone pedagogy at Oklahoma Music Educators Conferences, Regional North American Saxophone Alliance (NASA) Conferences and at the NASA Biennial National Conference in 2016. He also currently serves as Music Director for the well-known “Oklahoma City Jazz Orchestra” and leads his own group “Brian Gorrell & Jazz Company”. Gorrell completed a bachelor's degree in Music Education from UCO in 1995 and earned a Master of Music in Saxophone Performance at Oklahoma City University studying with acclaimed classical saxophonist Dr. Gail Hall in 1998.
Equally proficient on saxophones and keyboards, Gorrell has produced many album projects including "In Some Other World" (1995), "Soulmates" (1999), "In The Swing of Christmas" (2002), "Live at the UCO Jazz Lab" (2008), and as a director, “Swingin’ in 2012”, “Still Swingin’ in 2015”, “Spirit of Monterey” (2018) and “Resilience: Behind the Mask” (2021) with UCO’s Jazz Ensemble 1. In addition to the Welk Orchestra, he has performed with such diverse notables as Doc Severinsen, The Manhattan Transfer, Aretha Franklin, Louie Bellson, Phil Woods, Kris Berg and the Metroplexity Big Band, the OKC Jazz Orchestra, the Edmond Jazz Orchestra, Jay Migliori, Jay Daversa, John Daversa, Sharel Cassity, Clark Terry, The Lennon Sisters, Ralna English, Patti Page, Slide Hampton, Kay Starr, Steve Allen, Jim Nabors, Ty England, Diane Schuur, Christopher Cross, The Temptations, The Four Tops, The Drifters, Gil Goldstein, Randy Brecker, Dave Douglas, John Fedchock, and many others.
Gorrell has always been passionate about music education and has been aggressive in developing new programs at UCO including a Minor in Jazz Studies, a Bachelor of Music in Jazz Performance, and Oklahoma's only Master of Music in Jazz Studies, with majors in Performance and Music Production. He founded the Oklahoma Youth Jazz Ensemble in 2012, which offers advanced jazz education to top high school students in Central Oklahoma. The Oklahoma Jazz Educators Association has twice named him “Collegiate Jazz Educator of the Year”, and his band “Brian Gorrell & Jazz Company” have been performing regularly since 1995 throughout the Midwest.
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