Doug Pierce profile picture

Doug Pierce

16 Piece contemporary Jazz Orchestra to Quintet

About Me

Doug Pierce an extremely gifted and talented composer/orchestrator, arranger and trumpeter hails from the motor city; Detroit, Michigan. Detroit is known for having produced some of the finest jazz musicians in the world. During his time in Detroit Doug has had the great opportunity to study with quite a few internationally recognized jazz musicians including Marcus Belgrave, Donald Walden, Rayse Biggs, Jimmy Wilkinson, Larry Smith, Kenneth Cox, Teddy Harris Jr., Russell Green and Herbie Williams. In the Fall of 1993 Doug continued his professional music studies with a two-year stint at Michigan State University's music program. Here he studied music theory and composition.While at MSU Doug had the opportunity to study classical trumpet with Richard Illman who is a trumpet disciple of the great Vince di Martino. In the fall of 1996 Doug transferred his musical studies to the University of DC where he was under the tutelage of the late great Calvin Jones. While at UDC Doug became the second recipient of the Felix E. Grant fellowship award. This award is a very prestigious award not given out regularly and is given solely based on individual talent. It was under Calvin Jones that Doug was made aware of his incredible and unique composition and arranging abilities. Professor Jones often shared with Doug how his use of harmonic and melodic tools are reminiscent of the same tools used by Duke Ellington, Quincy Jones and Thad Jones. Upon completion of his undergraduate studies in 1999, fall 2002 Doug enrolled into the Jazz Studies program at Western Michigan University. It is here that Doug studied with jazz greats such as Trent Kynaston, Dr. Scott Cowan and Tom Knific. During his time at WMU Doug was awarded the distinct opportunity to participate in a few residency programs including the prestigious Betty Carter Jazz Ahead residency in April of 2004. Doug completed his Masters degree in music spring of 2005 and is currently the professor of Jazz Trumpet at The Ohio State University Currently Doug leads several musically diverse groups. Those groups include an exciting jazz quintet and sextet, a very powerful and dynamic Gospel music ensemble and a new and very exciting jazz orchestra called the "Band of Brothas" where Doug is the Chief Conductor, composer and arranger. The compositions performed by this group show Doug's fundamental understanding of the jazz tradition, but also displays his uniqueness and originality as a composer, orshestrator and arranger.Other artists that Doug has shared the stage with or performed along side include: Bobby Watson, René McLean, Karen Francis, James King, Nassar Abbeday, Byron Stripling, Claudio Roditi, Dena DeRose, John Clayton, Jeff Clayton, Regina Carter, Sunny Sumter, Angela Wimbush, Clare Fischer, Bob McChesney, Sunny Wilkinson, Jim McNeely, "Slide" Hampton, Randy Brecker, Roy Hargrove, Arkady Shilkloper, Vincent Herring, Cyrus Chestnut, Bruce Barth, Billy Hart, Eric Lewis, Curtis Fuller, Dr. Nathan Davis, Winard Harper, Carmen Lundy, J.D. Allen, Richie Cole, The Velvelettes and many others.

My Interests

Music:

Member Since: 3/8/2006
Band Members:
Influences: Duke Ellington , Thad Jones , Jim McNeely , Gil Evans , John Clayton , Slide Hampton , Bob Brookmeyer and Gerald Wilson , Moazart, Beethoven, Tchaikovsky, Korsakov, Shostakovich, Mahler, Coltrane, Clifford Brown, Freddie Hubbard, Miles Davis, Booker Little, Kenny Dorham, Lee Morgan, Woody Shaw, Blue Mitchell, Charlie Parker, Almost all the up and coming Young Jazz Artists and everyone else throughout the world music diaspora.
Sounds Like: Inspired Music
Record Label: Pierced Ear Music
Type of Label: Indie

My Blog

Ancient Christianity and Africa

"Egypt means bondage, Egypt means limit.  If you want to know what God has for you, you must first get out of Egypt!!!"When I first heard these intense words I was about 26 years old attending a ...
Posted by Doug Pierce on Thu, 07 Dec 2006 09:22:00 PST