Brian Slawson

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Brian Slawson (born 1956) is an American percussionist, arranger and composer. [1] He is best known for his Grammy-nominated recording, Bach On Wood. [2]

Contents

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Early life

Brian Montgomery Slawson was born on August 2, 1956, to Ronald and Mildred Slawson in Plattsburgh, New York and was raised in Brookfield, Connecticut. [2] At age 7, he played snare drum in a local fife & drum corps, leading to private drum set instruction at age 10. [2] Brian attended Brookfield High School. After preliminary studies in percussion at the Hartt School, Slawson attended the Juilliard School in New York. [3] Soon after, he signed his first recording contract with CBS Masterworks. [2] Brian’s debut release, Bach On Wood, garnered Slawson a “Best New Classical Artist” Grammy nomination. [2] His followup recording, Distant Drums, featured performances with guitar icon Stevie Ray Vaughan and jazz trumpet great Freddie Hubbard. [1]

Professional career

A sought after studio musician, stage performer and clinician, Brian's multimedia company, Slawsongs, produces custom music for film, television and radio. [4] He is Principal Timpanist of the Brevard Symphony Orchestra, Professor of Percussion at Eastern Florida State College and Holy Trinity Episcopal Academy, (https://www.htacademy.org) and a published author for Alfred Music Publishing and Tapspace Publications (https://www.tapspace.com). [4] Slawson is the voice of Gusto the Bulldog in Warner Bros. Music Expressions, appears in Macmillan/McGraw-Hill's Spotlight on Music and is a featured performer at Lincoln Center's Meet the Artist Series. [4] Brian also produces television music for Warner Bros. Discovery Networks.

Slawson has performed with Leonard Bernstein, Aaron Copland, Joshua Bell, Itzhak Perlman, Isaac Stern, John Cage, Robert Shaw, Bernard Haitink, Marvin Hamlisch and opera great, Jessye Norman. He has recorded with pop icons from Stevie Ray Vaughan to Marie Osmond, punctuated jokes for comedians Jerry Seinfeld, Eddie Murphy, Bill Maher, Paul Reiser and Don Rickles, and performed on hundreds of national television and radio commercials (including American Express, Budweiser, Exxon/Mobil, Coca-Cola, Nabisco, McDonald's, IBM, Burger King, Chrysler and Chevrolet).

As a studio percussionist, Brian has recorded with drummers Steve Gadd, Peter Erskine, Dave Weckl, Steve Ferrone, Andy Newmark, Allan Schwartzberg, Michael Shrieve, Chris Parker, Anton Fig and Grady Tate.

Discography

Television and radio appearances (national)

The following is a list of published works by Slawson. [4]

Personal website

www.slawsongs.com

References

[2] [1] [7] [11] [4] [13] [14] [15] [16] [17] [18] [19] [20] [21] [22] [23]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 "All Music-Brian Slawson". All Music.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 "Bach on Wood Percussionist Brian Slawson Goes Against the Grain to Carve a Classical Hit". People Magazine.
  3. "Dance Drama Music" (PDF). Juilliard.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 "Tapspace Artist Page". Tapspace.
  5. "Musician Performs 'BoomerBeats' Songs" (PDF). Florida Today.
  6. "Musser- Artist Page". Musser. Archived from the original on 2012-12-13. Retrieved 2013-02-13.
  7. 1 2 "Zildjian Artist Page". Zildjian. Archived from the original on 2015-10-08. Retrieved 2013-02-07.
  8. "Vic Firth- Artist Page". Vic Firth. Archived from the original on 2012-08-23. Retrieved 2013-02-13.
  9. "Remo- Artist Page". Remo. Archived from the original on 2014-05-09.
  10. "Rhythm Tech- Artist Page". Rhythm Tech. Archived from the original on 2012-10-11. Retrieved 2013-02-13.
  11. 1 2 "Kat Artist Page". Alternate Mode. Archived from the original on 2013-03-16. Retrieved 2013-02-07.
  12. "Grover Pro- Artist Page". Grover Pro.
  13. Distant Drums. World Cat. OCLC   18241225.
  14. "Musician Performs 'BoomerBeats' Songs" (PDF). Florida Today.
  15. "Brian Slawson to entertain at Brevard Children's Chorus benefit". Orlando Arts Blog. Archived from the original on 2010-09-19.
  16. "Alexander Lepak". Percussive Arts Society. Archived from the original on 2012-10-23.
  17. "Dance Drama Music" (PDF). Juilliard.
  18. "Grover Pro- Artist Page". Grover Pro.
  19. "Musser- Artist Page". Musser. Archived from the original on 2012-12-13. Retrieved 2013-02-13.
  20. "Vic Firth- Artist Page". Vic Firth. Archived from the original on 2012-08-23. Retrieved 2013-02-13.
  21. "Remo- Artist Page". Remo. Archived from the original on 2014-05-09.
  22. "Rhythm Tech- Artist Page". Rhythm Tech. Archived from the original on 2012-10-11. Retrieved 2013-02-13.
  23. "Fascinating Rhythm- Brian and Joani Slawson". Space Coast Living.