How long have you been playing the clarinet?
Since December of 1991. I started in the middle of my 7th grade year.
How often do you perform?
It varies. I've performed in as many as 3 concerts a month to as little as 2 concerts in an entire year. Ideally I would like to be performing 6 to 8 gigs per month.
How would you describe your playing?
The rich sound of Mitchell Lurie, the speed of Stanley Drucker, and the expressiveness of Richard Stoltzman (without the wild vibrato).
Where can people purchase your debut CD?
In the initial distribution cycle, CDs may only be purchased online via mail order at WhosThatGuy.com. CDs will later be available on Amazon.com, CDBaby.com, CDStreet.com, Yahoo.com, and numerous other online vendors as well as in local retail stores (Barnes & Noble, Best Buy, Circuit City). A list of authorized vendors will be provided on the WhosThatGuy.com website at a later date.
Is there difference between purchasing your CD at WhosThatGuy.com versus buying it in my local retail store or elsewhere, like Amazon.com?
Yes. Aside from being different companies with their own stores, payment systems, and websites, vendors like Amazon, CDBaby, CDStreet, and Best Buy etc. keep up to 55% of the sales made from Bryan's CD. That's well more than half... and they didn't even make the CD!!!! On WhosThatGuy.com, however, only 3% is kept by the payment processor as an online transaction fee and the other 97% of the sales are credited directly to Bryan.
What is it like being the only musician of the family?
Correction... I'm not the only musician in the family. Though they are not performing at a professional level or even keeping up with it as hobby, my entire family has been involved with music since I was born. Both of my parents were regular members of the church choir, my mother was a flautist, my oldest brother Carlester was a trombonist, and my other brother Alge was a pretty good Saxophonist back in the day. It was actually one of [Alge's] band concerts that made me decide to join the school band when I was a kid.
What made you decide to play the clarinet as opposed to other instruments?
I've had experience with trombone, violin, piano, fife and flute, but at the time I wanted to start an instrument, Clarinet was one of the only things available to me. Our family isn't exactly the richest of people, so I tried trombone as sort-of a "hand-me-down" from my oldest brother. Every time I played it, I got a really fat upper lip, so I had to quit that. The only other option was a clarinet that was donated to me by a family in our church because their daughter was going off to college and didn't want to continue the instrument. I took to it immediately, and voila... here I am today.
What do you get out of playing?
A sense of relief. Music, in general, is my passion and always has been from singing, to listening, to instrumental performance. I literally treat my clarinet as an extension of me, and a lot of that is manifested by my playing and the way I express the music. There's nothing like being able to move people with my music and lay a different form of "shock and awe" into their lives at the moment that I am performing for them.
What styles of music do you perform?
Traditional Classical, Contemporary Classical, and Avant Garde
Do you play any jazz?
Yes, but it is not my primary focus nor is it of interest to me as a clarinetist. Booking me to perform jazz improv style is like asking me to recite all the works of Shakespeare in perfect Chinese tomorrow.
Do you play any klezmer?
Nee. None-o-that... at least not like David Krakauer. Interesting music, but it's not for me as a professional.
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