Kevin Bryan 鈥87鈥檚 trumpet case was 鈥渕erely an extension of his arm,鈥 says fellow musician and freshman roommate Jack Lees 鈥88
Kevin D. Bryan 鈥87 died Nov. 15, 2018, in Haverstraw, N.Y. Kevin was lead trumpet player for the Duke Ellington Orchestra, Bobby Sanabria鈥檚 Big Band, and the Mambo Legends Orchestra (the former Tito Puente Orchestra), among others. Acclaimed for his artistic use of a plunger mute and his ability to sit in on many styles of jazz, he was always in demand to tour and record. He appeared with jazz greats including Harry Connick Jr. and Tito Puente, and popular artists including Norah Jones, k.d. lang, Levon Helm, Michael Bolton, and Macy Gray.
He performed on more than two dozen albums, including Puente鈥檚 1999 Grammy-winning album Mambo Birdland, and on Grammy-nominated disks by Sanabria and Connick Jr. He also worked regularly on Broadway and could be found sitting in with many classic jazz bands in the New York City area. The appeal of playing lead trumpet, he explained in a 2014 interview, is 鈥渢he feeling of really being on top of the band and, when everything is going, that you're really helping in part to drive the band.鈥
At a memorial service held December 2 at Garner Arts Center, many of Kevin鈥檚 fellow musicians performed in celebration of his life and legacy. Jack Lees 鈥88, Kevin鈥檚 freshman roommate in Erdman Hall, recounted his lifelong friendship with Kevin, 鈥渁 soul who was acutely sensitive to life鈥檚 fundamental paradox鈥攕omeone who struggled often, I think, with the juxtaposition of incomprehensible beauty and profound absurdity. It was his life鈥檚 work to reconcile that contradiction, not just for himself, but for his friends and his family, with kindness, humor, and the mastery of his horn.鈥
鈥淚t was and is the honor of my life to have been married to him,鈥 wife Marife Bryan posted on Facebook following Kevin鈥檚 passing. 鈥淗e shared his passion for music with me and gave me a spiritual backstage pass to the life of a working musician鈥攐ne of the many gifts I鈥檝e received.鈥 In addition to Marife, Kevin is survived by daughters Milo Bryan and Dylan Farrell-Bryan, son Rhys Farrell-Bryan, his mother Christella Sanz-Guerrero, his sister Tatiana Schnierow, and his stepmother Candy Bannerman.
