Trumpeter Dawson to Perform with Live Edge Trio at UW Feb. 3

The University of Wyoming Jazz Studies program will present trumpeter Brad Dawson with Live Edge Trio at 7:30 p.m. Monday, Feb. 3, in the Buchanan Center for the Performing Arts recital hall. The concert is free and open to the public.

Dawson, director of Jazz Studies at Fort Hays State University, teaches trumpet, jazz ensembles, jazz improvisation, jazz history and music technology. An active performer, he serves as principal trumpet with the Hays Symphony and performs with several jazz groups and big bands as well as a soloist.

He has performed with such musicians as Bob Bowman, Kevin Mahogany, Frank Mantooth, Kim Park, Tommy Ruskin, Gerald Spaits and his former student Ben Markley, UW Department of Music chair and an associate professor of jazz studies and jazz piano.

Dawson also has performed with the Kansas City Symphony and the New Mexico Symphony, and has been a guest soloist and adjudicator for the Wichita Jazz Festival.

Live Edge Trio features UW Department of Music faculty members Markley on piano, Seth Lewis on bass and Andy Wheelock on drums.

For the performance with Dawson, the trio welcomes drummer Alejandro Castańo. Live Edge writes and arranges music that reflects and builds upon the rich history of the jazz piano trio. Each member offers a unique and distinct musical perspective, which comes together as “hard-swinging, harmonically rich and infectiously groovy tunes.”

The trio’s first studio recording, “Look for the Silver Lining,” was released in 2023, and is available on all major streaming platforms. Live Edge Trio’s second studio record “Closing Time,” released in 2024, features legendary vibraphonist Steve Nelson and is available on the Origin record label.

For more information, call Kathy Kirkaldie, UW Fine Arts coordinator, at (307) 766-2160 or email kirisk@uwyo.edu.