High-energy original improvised music and unique arrangements of rock and pop tunes, all set to forceful and distinctive grooves.
“...a generous, accessible sound with an exploratory edge, Bruce brings a finely-polished technique that is at the same time subtly discontent, searching for new expressions and willing to take some chances along the way”.
-Troy Dostert, All About Jazz
“A perfect balance between the known and the exploratory”
-C. Andrew Hovan, All About Jazz
CONTACT
Dan Bruce
773-632-7187
dan@danbrucemusic.com
Dan Bruce
By embracing the influence of his heroes from the jazz tradition and retaining his own musical personality, guitarist Dan Bruce has developed a unique and impressive musical voice. Now a resident of Cleveland, Ohio after spending a decade as an important member of Chicago’s vibrant jazz scene, he is active throughout the United States as a performer, recording artist, composer and educator.
Bruce has performed on more than forty albums as a sideman and has released four albums as a leader. He has worked with a number of eminent musicians including Jamey Haddad, Seamus Blake, Ali Jackson, Dan Wall, Lynn Seaton, The Cleveland Jazz Orchestra, Daniel Lippel, Rose Colella, Marc Mommaas, and Marquis Hill.
Bruce’s groups have been featured in The Chi-Town Jazz Festival, The Chicago Composers Collective series at the Green Mill, The Chicago Cultural Center Chamber Music Series, The Jazz Institute of Chicago NextGen Jazz Series, South by Southwest, The Toledo Jazz Festival, The Rubber City Jazz Festival, and The Ohio City Summer Festival. He has been profiled in Fingerstyle Guitar, on WDCB 90.9 FM Chicago, WCPN 90.3 FM Cleveland, WYSO 91.3 FM Yellow Springs, WKSU 104.9 Cleveland, coolcleveland.com, Chicago Jazz Magazine, and The South Bend Tribune.
In 2020 Dan received an Individual Excellence Award in Music Composition from the Ohio Arts Council. He is currently on faculty at Cleveland State University
Denzel Chismar-Oliver is a multifaceted bassist in Pittsburgh, PA who has shared the stage with artists such as KELS, Sierra Sellers, Glenn Zaleski, James Johnson III, and many more. Growing up in a very musical household, he started playing bass at the age of 7 and immediately fell in love with the instrument. Denzel got his musical foundation playing bass and drums in church, while also playing saxophone and percussion all through middle and high school. In 2015, he moved to Pittsburgh to study jazz bass at Duquesne University, where he began to breakout into the music scene. Denzel currently teaches bass and piano at Sunburst School of Music while still regularly performing with some of the best musicians in and out of the city.
Nathan Douds is a drummer and pianist who has been performing professionally for 30+ years. While he has spent much of his life playing and teaching in the greater Pittsburgh and Cleveland areas, he has performed across the world in multiple countries. His diverse musical interests include composition, electro-acoustic and electronic music, improvisation across jazz/fusion/classical music, recording, audio engineering, production, and more. He has shared the stage with such artists as Joe Lovano, The Tommy Dorsey Orchestra, The Cleveland Jazz Orchestra, John Hollenbeck, The Diamonds, The Coasters, Adam Crossley, Paul Ferguson, and Russel Schmidt, to name a few. He is the sole composer and leader of the Nathan Douds Ensemble, a sextet playing Nathan's original music. The Nathan Douds Ensemble aims to blur the lines between complex and highly arranged classical/fusion compositions and those of jazz and free jazz principles. He holds an undergraduate degree in Percussion Performance and a master's in Jazz Studies - Applied Piano.