Brian Best

Music:

Member Since: 11/29/2006
Band Website: myspace.com/brianbestmusic
Band Members:
Quincy Cole - Keyboards
Chad Welling - Guitars
Will Curtis - Bass
George Hampton - Drums

...and...

BRIAN BEST
There is a new name in the saxophone world, and Brian lives up to it – he is one of the best! Brian Best is a young saxophone performer and recording artist known for doing it all – he’s a performer, teacher, clinician, producer, composer, arranger, and anything else in between. Brian stays incredibly busy doing anything he can to make music and make sure his friends, family, and fans hear it. Brian Best has a cutting-edge technique and sound that is a breath of fresh air in jazz and legit classic style. He also seamlessly blends his jazz studies all around the country with his love and passion for various styles of music. Brian is currently in high demand as a freelancing saxophone performer, recording artist, private instructor, and producer all over the country for many styles of music ranging from pop, dance, rock, jazz, electric, and so on.
“My music is definitely a journey - a compilation of all the music that I grew up loving since day one. This hybrid of styles defines who I am as a person and as a musician.”
Brian has a fairly quiet personality with an incredibly humble characteristic about him. However, when he straps on his saxophone, he means business! In fact, he meant business when he picked up his first pair of drumsticks at the young age of three. He enjoyed drumming away and pretending to be a rockstar, but the lampshades didn’t. His mother played the piano, and his father played the guitar, so music surrounded him at a very early age. With encouraging words from his family, he began to take piano lessons at age nine and immediately found passion and desire for music. With his father being an avid computer and hardware guru, Brian was a kid in a candy store when he received his first computer at age ten. He began doing research with music and computers and wrote his first music/electric compositions at age eleven. It was about this time when he was turned on to the lush sounds of the saxophone. “By the time I was in the fifth grade, I listened to saxophone solos of pop music like Careless Whisper and the General Hospital theme hit by Dave Koz. It wasn’t until I was introduced to an old Charlie Parker recording. I remember it plain as day – I fell in love with saxophone.” By the time he was twelve, Brian enrolled in his school’s public band program playing the saxophone. He immediately soared in competitions and contests, and began soloing with his school’s stage band by age thirteen. The bond between Brian and saxophone was made on the day that he began playing with his first local jazz combo in bars and grills around the area. In fact, Brian began his freelance saxophone work with bands around the Houston area at the age of fourteen. By the time Brian graduated high school, he was awarded first chair in the All-State program throughout high school and was named the Outstanding Soloist for Texas’ UIL Solo and Ensemble Program.

It doesn’t stop there. On top of being a jazz performer, Brian has studied classically as well with many great saxophone players around the world. He has had winning placement in many concerto competitions performing numerous classic works for saxophone. Brian was also awarded MTNA’s National Finalist in Seattle in which he placed in the top 4 out of 2300 national entrants, winning over Julliard, University of North Texas, Ithaca School of Music, and University of Michigan students. Brian has had master-class sessions with saxophone greats such as William Street and Jean-Marie Londeix. Brian currently studies at Sam Houston State University in Huntsville, TX with world-class saxophone performer Scott Plugge working to earn his education. Brian graduates in August 2008 with a bachelor’s degree of music in Saxophone Performance Concentration.

It wasn’t until a friend recommended Brian to a recording studio located in a small town outside of Dallas, TX that sparked a burning desire to enter the recording industry as a performing and recording artist. Brian made numerous trips back and forth from school to Dallas every weekend to meet and greet with the label owners and recording studio. After accepting the deal he was offered, he recorded some of his newest compositions and learned the ropes of recording in a studio. Then unexpectedly, the label was stagnant and desperate for funds, so they were forced to disband and relocate. “I remember being extremely devastated that my record deal with those guys didn’t work out. It seemed like the biggest failure of my life. Some people would have just threw in the towel after that, but I don’t just pack up and quit. I play to win.” In fact, Brian’s desire had him moving to Nashville, TN to work more closely with the record industry. While there, he was immediately fascinated by the glamour and the lifestyle of a city where music was playing in every corner. He was able to work more intimately with management and record studios to learn the ins and outs of the industry. To survive, Brian had a job waiting tables at BB Kings Bar and Grill downtown to pay for a small extended-stay hotel rent. With a saxophone strapped to his back everywhere he went, Brian played anywhere and everywhere he could just to get exposure. While wait staffing at BB Kings, he was able to meet and greet players and business owners from all walks of the world, and was able to perform regularly with James Brown’s former saxophonist Waldo Weathers. He even got to meet and jam with the great BB King himself! “I remember playing my saxophone on the side of the street just so people could hear me play. It’s funny because I made more money doing that then selling blue jeans back home!” An offer to perform with the union in Houston had Brian moving back to his hometown in Houston, where he was warmly welcomed and reunited with his former band mates. The Brian Best Band was formed. They performed many nights at the Red Cat Jazz Café opening up for artists such as Mary Griffith, Dean James, Kyle Turner, Everett Harp, Joe Carmouche, and many others. The Brian Best Band is his own compilation of talented young artists featuring his compositions and a cutting-edge smooth jazz sound. On the side, Brian currently works as a freelancing saxophonist and performing artist playing with numerous Top 40 bands such as The Houston Nitebeat Band for private events and corporate parties. Brian has been fortunate enough to play alongside many jazz greats, such as Alan Vizutti, Arturo Sandoval, Chris Vadala, Ron Wilkins, Pete Berenbregge, and Rocky Winslow. His band headlined at 57 West Jazz Café in Houston for nearly a year as their signature artist. In affiliation with Haven Recording in Huntsville, TX, Brian created his own label to produce and record his own self-released smooth jazz solo album scheduled to release in June of 2008. His straight-ahead jazz project with The Brian Best Band is his next goal. “Music is the road that I have chosen, and my saxophone is my vehicle. It has been very challenging, and there have been many times where I felt like giving up. I have hit some major bumps along the way, but I will never break down. If you have a dream, persistence is the key that will unlock the door. I won’t ever give up until I find success.”
Record Label: BrianBestMusic®
Type of Label: Indie