In June 2024, Dr. Kevin Bryson was sitting in the Miami International Airport, applying to academic teaching positions on his laptop. Having just earned his Doctor of Musical Arts degree in jazz instrumental performance from the University of Miami in May, he was awaiting a flight to London, England, where he had been invited to play bass trombone on a jazz album to be recorded in the historic Abbey Road Studios.“We recorded in the same room where the Beatles recorded,” Dr. Bryson explains. “There is so much history there. Pink Floyd. So many others. Just look it up. So much iconic music.” Radiohead. Adele. Oasis. Amy Winehouse. U2. Lady Gaga.
The project was based on the music of jazz musician Kenny Wheeler. Dr. Nick Smart, head of Jazz Programmes at the Royal Academy of Music, in London, had been a personal friend of Wheeler’s and spearheaded the effort, which focused on recording experimental, unpublished music the jazz legend had written early in his career. Dr. Smart brought his friend, Dr. John Daversa, chair of studio music and jazz at the Frost School of Music at the University of Miami, into the project, which led to Dr. Bryson’s involvement.
In the final year of his doctoral studies, Dr. Bryson was working as a graduate assistant in the Frost School of Music’s library. In that role, he was tasked with working through the original scores for the trombone parts of the Kenny Wheeler project, determining how they needed to be appointed to the players in the ensemble. His work served as the early organization during the planning stages for the record. For his contribution, he was invited to play the bass trombone on the project.
