All About Brian

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 1". 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 has also performed twice at the prestigious Midwest Clinic in December 2013/2021, and at Jazz Education Network (JEN) Conferences in 2012, 2013, 2017, and 2019. UCO’s Jazz Ensemble 1 very 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, a Regional North American Saxophone Alliance (NASA) Conference 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), “Resilience: Behind the Mask” (2021), and “Collegiate Dissonance” (2024) 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, 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.

In addition to his career in music, Brian Gorrell is an avid lifelong motorcyclist who recently became a Motorcycle Safety Foundation (MSF) Certified RiderCoach in order to give back to his community and educate new motorcyclists how to ride responsibly and safe.

RECENT IN-DEPTH VIDEO INTERVIEW WITH OKLAHOMA HALL OF FAME (2022)

The Full Interview (54 min)

https://youtu.be/5IQYHb8bN1E

Why Music (2 min)

https://youtu.be/jYdK5lp1MJ8

The Birth of the UCO Jazz Lab (11 min)

https://youtu.be/3_ahuqg5iIg

You Have to Enjoy the Process (3 min)

https://youtu.be/7jjfPkaQNvM

PRESENTATION: THOUGHTS ON DEVELOPING JAZZ VOCABULARY AT NASA (55 min)

https://youtu.be/1ICo1TgGq60

THE LAWRENCE WELK SHOW “Then and Now” 1994, Brian Gorrell pianist (1 hour 22 min)