Home » Jazz Musicians » Brian Pastor

Brian Pastor

The Brian Pastor Big Band, founded in 1994, is a 17 piece jazz ensemble comprised of some of Philadelphia's finest musicians. It was created as an outlet for area musicians to perform the music they love, and to provide a showcase for outstanding jazz soloists, composers and arrangers. Members of the Brian Pastor Big Band include music educators and past and present performers with well known music organizations such as the Philadelphia Orchestra and Peter Nero and the Philly Pops. Several band members are freelance studio and theater performers. Pastor is currently principal trombonist with Peter Nero and The Philly Pops, and has been a music educator in Philadelphia for many years.

The Band is noted for its tight ensemble, solos of the highest quality, exhilarating diverse arrangements and original compositions "a swingin' band that will make you smile." From straight ahead jazz to funk, the band?s repertoire targets a following of all ages.

The Brian Pastor Big Band has had extended engagements at Philadelphia area clubs including 23rd Street Café, the Blue Moon Jazz Café, the Cherry Hill (NJ) Hilton, the Casino Deli, and is noted for appearances at private engagements, music festivals, educational workshops and annual appearances at the Penn's Landing Summer Concert Series. The band performs in educational workshops and concerts throughout the Region and can be booked for upcoming engagements through the web site. The Brian Pastor Big Band?s first CD Common Men was released in June 2006 as a sponsored project of The New York Foundation for the Arts, emphasizing original compositions and arrangements by members of the band. The CD is featured on jazz stations, programs and webcasts across the U.S., Europe, Asia and Australia.

Tags

39
Album Review

Jim Levendis: The Big Band Project

Read "The Big Band Project" reviewed by Jack Bowers


Jim Levendis knew that time was running out. In his mid-seventies, the veteran Philadelphia-area trumpeter and educator had contracted ALS (Lou Gehrig's disease), the effects of which were rapidly sapping his energy and ability to function. As the disease progressed, Levendis confided in Len Pierro, a band mate in the Ward Marston band, that there was one thing he would dearly love to do while he was still able: record some of the big-band arrangements he had written over the ...

197
Album Review

The Brian Pastor Big Band: Common Men

Read "Common Men" reviewed by Edward Blanco


One sampling of trombonist Brian Pastor's Common Men will be enough to convince you that there's nothing common about the music you've just heard or the musicians that played it. It's an especially pleasurable big band outing and debut for The Brian Pastor Big Band, a nineteen-piece Philadelphia-based ensemble delivering one swinging performance.

The album includes a mixture of standards and originals from members of the band. Pastor contributes two new charts, beginning with the lively “T.S.C. Blues Or A ...

383
Album Review

The Brian Pastor Big Band: Common Men

Read "Common Men" reviewed by Jack Bowers


Yes, I'll admit I'm growing old (the senior discount is now a given), but never too old, I hope, to appreciate a big band that's clearly bursting with energy and enthusiasm and swings like every note may be its last. By the way, that's a thumbnail sketch of trombonist Brian Pastor's Philadelphia-based ensemble and Common Men, a dynamic and unequivocally dazzling debut that has left me grinning from ear to ear.

Any session that opens with a pulse-quickening arrangement of ...

Read more articles
93

Performance / Tour

Brian Pastor Big Band: "Common Men"

Brian Pastor Big Band: "Common Men"

Source: All About Jazz

The common men (from the CD of the same name) of the Brian Pastor Big Band will be performing in concert for one night at the Cutting Room in New York City on June 5, 2007. Cover charge for the 2 set event is $15.00 at the door. Philadelphia fans can attend the event for a package price of $45 that includes admission to the 2 set concert. This price includes transportation via luxury motor coach to NYC with free ...

Music

Recordings: As Leader | As Sideperson

The Big Band Project

Self Produced
2022

buy

Common Men

BPO Music
2007

buy

Common Men

BPO Music
2006

buy

Similar

Get more of a good thing!

Our weekly newsletter highlights our top stories, our special offers, and upcoming jazz events near you.