Bryant Allard
and M.U.S.E. Inc.
Bryant Allard: Jazz Society of Oregon's Musician of the Month
for February 2005! (click for article)
Trumpeter Bryant Allard lives in Portland, Oregon and is a professional jazz musician who works with his own group as well as a free lance trumpet player. He is a graduate(1984) of the prestigious jazz school, Berklee College of Music in Boston. Bryant started playing the trumpet when he was 10 years old and grew up in the San Diego area. In San Diego, he was exposed to many great world class jazz musicians including, alto saxophonist Charles McPherson, guitarist Peter Sprague, pianists Rob Schneiderman, Mike Wofford, and Butch Lacy and trombonist Hal Crook.
After graduating from Berklee, Bryant moved to the San Francisco bay area where he worked with many great jazz musicians including pianist Mark Levine. At the same time, Bryant ventured out and started his own music business, M.U.S.E. Inc. offering instrumental band programs to private elementary and middle schools. From 1984-1993 Bryant developed band programs in over 20 bay area schools. In 1992 Bryant, his wife Teri and daughter Cameron moved to the Portland area. He expanded his business as he continued operating schools in the bay area and today has over 50 private and public schools in two states and employees over 18 music teachers many of whom play professionally as well. Bryant has also offered to the community many jazz workshops and sponsors P.Y.J.O, The Portland Youth Jazz Orchestra conducted by Ben and Michelle Medler. P.Y.J.O. includes some of the best middle and high school students in the area and has expanded to include three big bands and small ensembles.
Bryant continues to play strong in the Portland area with musicians, Ron Steen, Phil Baker, Jean Ronne, Phil Goldgerg, Bill Beach, Ben Wolfe, Marilyn Keller, George Mitchell, Tony Pacini, Phil Hatton, Lee Wuthenow, Neil Masson, David Evans, and many others. He has recorded with Tall Jazz on two CD's and with local salsa group Conjunto Alegre. His latest CD, entitled "Reunion" with the Powerhouse Quintet has received great reviews and the group tours out of state regularly during the summer months.
About Bryant's Company, M.U.S.E. (Musical Understanding through Sound Education):
M.U.S.E. was started in 1986 in the San Francisco Bay Area by Bryant Allard and partner Pete Lewis. Bryant and Pete saw a great need in the private schools for instrumental band programs. However, most private schools could not afford to hire a band director on their staff. M.U.S.E. approached administrators with a no cost program to the schools; the tuition would be paid for by the individuals who are participating in the program. With a minimal amount of advertisement, M.U.S.E. quickly expanded its band programs throughout many of the Bay Areas schools by word of mouth based on its’ reputation.
After Pete Lewis’s departure from the company in 1989, Bryant continued to expand the program in the Bay Area. In 1992 Bryant, his wife Teri, and daughter Cameron, decided to move to the Northwest to Portland, Oregon. Bryant continued to expand the M.U.S.E. Program into the Portland metropolitan area as he maintained and expanded his business in the Bay area. M.U.S.E. has grown over the years to include 48 schools in two states (California and Oregon). M.U.S.E has also reached out into the public schools and is currently in 8 schools in the Portland and Beaverton School Districts.
Over the years, Bryant has been very successful in developing a specialized curriculum for his program. “Because our program sends teachers out to the schools once or twice a week, we needed to design a curriculum that fit this type of a schedule,” says Bryant. “We don’t have the luxury of having band 3-5 days a week like some of the public schools offer.” Bryant has created two method books and a corresponding accompaniment practice tape series that keeps the kids interested in practicing at home.
In 1996, M.U.S.E. reached out farther into the community ,offering a Saturday Morning Jazz Workshop for students in the public and private schools. In January of 2000, M.U.S.E. was contracted through the Jazz Society of Oregon and the Smithsonian Institute to offer jazz workshops for students in the Portland area. Professional musicians who work in the local community are invited to these workshops as guest speakers and perform alongside the students. “It is important to give back to the community,” says Bryant. “By exposing these kids to professional players who are out there doing it in the real world, we are giving these kids an opportunity to get excited about music and, in turn, become successful at what they love to do, PLAY MUSIC! “
His new touring jazz group The Powehouse Quintet has just released their first CD entitled "Reunion".
You can reach Bryant at <bryant@museband.com>
PHD Music Presents:
The Powerhouse Quintet
"Reunion"
Our musical adventure started 25 years ago when we (Bryant, Steve, and Bim),while still in high school, discovered jazz and decided to form our own band. Having all grown up together in Del Mar, a small beach community just north of San Diego, our friendship actually goes back even farther (grade school). In August of 1978, after graduation, the three of us moved to Boston to continue our musical studies; Steve and Bryant attended the Berklee College of Music while Bim worked gigs around the Boston area. Over the years, we all continued to play professionally but went in our own directions, settling in different parts of the country. Only on the rare occasion when our travels coincided did we have the opportunity to perform together. In August of 2000, however, we were invited to play as the Del Mar All-Stars in a jazz concert series back in our home town. While Steve was still living in San Diego at the time, Bim traveled from New York and Bryant from Portland, Oregon, for the reunion. The experience was something of a revelation: despite our different paths, we found there was an uncanny empathy in our musical sensibilities, and this ignited a desire to continue performing together. With the help of our close friend, San Diego guitarist Peter Sprague, we returned to San Diego to record our first CD as "The Powerhouse Quintet" at Spragueland Studios. Our name is taken from Powerhouse Park where we performed some of our first concerts together 25 years ago as well as our two recent reunion concerts.
The music reflects our similar backgrounds which are rooted in John Coltrane, Miles Davis, Sonny Rollins, and others of that generation. We hope you enjoy our music and we look forward to many more reunions in the near future.
Bim, Steve, and Bryant
"The smooth blend of this group speaks of the long and warm relationship of the principal figures in the quintet. Bryant, Steve, and Bim, are all wonderful players and composers alike, and their musical contributions in both spheres are accomplished and complementary to each other in a way that shows the special quality of their personal and musical relationships." Brian Lynch-
( Brian Lynch was a member of the legendary Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers and currently works with Phil Wood, Toshiko Akiyoshi, and Eddie Palmieri).
Now Available online at:
CD Baby.com (you can hear selections of the CD on this site) Click here
or call/email Bryant @ 1-800-233-6873 <bryant@museband.com(for CD or Bookings)