Brian W. Gorrell

At a glance

Director of Jazz Studies, University of Central Oklahoma
Leader, Brian Gorrell & Jazz Company
Music Director, Oklahoma City Jazz Orchestra
Former member, Lawrence Welk Orchestra
Based in Edmond, Oklahoma

Short biography

Brian W. Gorrell serves as Director of Jazz Studies at the University of Central Oklahoma Jazz Lab in Edmond, Oklahoma. A former member of the Lawrence Welk Orchestra, he oversees UCO’s Master of Music in Jazz Studies and Bachelor of Music in Jazz Performance, teaches Applied Saxophone, and directs the award-winning UCO Jazz Ensemble I. He serves as Music Director for the Oklahoma City Jazz Orchestra and leads Brian Gorrell & Jazz Company. A versatile musician on saxophones and keyboards, Gorrell is a recording artist, composer and educator, and a two-time recipient of the Oklahoma Jazz Educators Association’s “Collegiate Jazz Educator of the Year” award.

Full biography

Brian W. Gorrell serves as Director of Jazz Studies at the renowned University of Central Oklahoma (UCO) Jazz Lab in Edmond, Oklahoma. A former member of the Lawrence Welk Orchestra, he oversees UCO’s Master of Music in Jazz Studies—the only program of its kind in Oklahoma—as well as the Bachelor of Music in Jazz Performance. Gorrell teaches Applied Saxophone and directs the award-winning UCO Jazz Ensemble I, recognized multiple times in DownBeat Magazine’s Student Music Awards (2012, 2016, 2019, 2025).

Under his leadership, UCO Jazz Ensemble I has performed at premier national events including the Midwest Clinic (2013, 2021) and the Jazz Education Network (JEN) Conference (2012, 2013, 2017, 2019, 2024). In 2018, the ensemble won first place in the collegiate division at the Monterey Next Generation Jazz Festival and appeared on the main stages of the Monterey Jazz Festival.

Gorrell has presented lectures on jazz pedagogy, improvisation, and saxophone at the Oklahoma Music Educators Association conferences, the North American Saxophone Alliance (NASA) Regional Conferences, and the NASA Biennial Conference. He currently serves as Music Director for the Oklahoma City Jazz Orchestra and leads his long-running ensemble, Brian Gorrell & Jazz Company.

A versatile musician on saxophones and keyboards, Gorrell has produced numerous recordings, including In Some Other World (1995), Soulmates (1999), In the Swing of Christmas (2002), Live at the UCO Jazz Lab (2008), and multiple albums with UCO Jazz Ensemble I such as Swingin’ in 2012, Still Swingin’ (2015), Spirit of Monterey (2018), Resilience: Behind the Mask (2021), and Collegiate Dissonance (2024). His performance credits include Doc Severinsen, The Manhattan Transfer, Aretha Franklin, Louie Bellson, Phil Woods, and many others.

A committed advocate for music education, Gorrell helped develop UCO’s Minor in Jazz Studies, the Bachelor of Music in Jazz Performance, and Oklahoma’s only Master of Music in Jazz Studies with tracks in Performance and Music Production. He founded the Oklahoma Youth Jazz Ensemble in 2012 and is a two-time recipient of the Oklahoma Jazz Educators Association’s “Collegiate Jazz Educator of the Year” award. Since 1995, Brian Gorrell & Jazz Company has performed throughout the Midwest.

Outside music, Gorrell is an avid lifelong motorcyclist and a certified Motorcycle Safety Foundation (MSF) RiderCoach, committed to helping new riders build safe and confident habits.

Press photographs

Download any of these four portraits in the original supplied resolution.

Seated portraitDownload original JPG ↓Full-length saxophone portraitDownload original JPG ↓Saxophone close-upDownload original JPG ↓Colorful saxophone portraitDownload original JPG ↓