Thursday, July 18th - Trombonist/composer Andrew Wegierski & the Danjo Jazz Orchestra return to BLU Jazz for a special performance featuring the music of Casey Brefka! A native of Northeast Ohio, Casey has enjoyed a successful career in Nashville as a trumpeter, writer, and bandleader and is graciously bringing his music back home to share with us. Don't miss your chance to join us at BLU as we showcase one of the best & brightest!
About;
Casey Brefka - originally from Hudson, OH; now residing in Nashville TN - is a contemporary jazz trumpet player, composer, arranger, and teacher. He currently plays trumpet for the Chris Weaver Band (a rock/Americana band), Hey, Listen! (a jazz/funk video game cover band), The Willies (a trad-jazz dixieland style band), and is the musical director and front man for the Music City Big Band, an 18-piece big band in Nashville playing contemporary jazz music and featuring Nashville's finest jazz musicians.
After a distinguished high school career, Casey earned a full scholarship to Berklee College of Music, where he graduated in 2008 with a degree in Jazz Composition. In his senior year, Casey received their Toshiko Akiyoshi award for Jazz Composition. After a few brief stints on the road with the Artie Shaw Orchestra, he earned his Master's degree in Jazz Studies from New England Conservatory of Music in 2012 and spent a year on the faculty of Berklee College of Music, serving as an Assistant Professor of Contemporary Writing and Production. He then relocated to Nashville in the fall of 2015. Casey has performed with such jazz greats as McCoy Tyner, Maria Schneider, Phil Wilson, Greg Hopkins, and new voices in jazz such as Omar Thomas, Dynamo, Postmodern Jukebox and others.