 Bruce at 11 years |
It was a fateful day
when jazz trumpeter Willie Thomas showed sixth grader Bruce Staelens
the trumpet for the first time. Though he was better on the trombone,
he knew the trumpet was the one. And so
the ride began.
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 with Bill Watrous |
Within three years he was performing
at Walt Disney World and by high school, he had made the All-State
band, was a member of the Florida Symphony Youth Orchestra and
had won the Louis Armstrong Jazz Award. |
 fanfare trumpet at Disneyworld |
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 at t he Orlando Jazz Festival |
After studying at North Texas State with legendary teacher Don Jacoby, Bruce returned to Florida and became a regular on the jazz and freelance scenes. He played with such jazz masters as Elvin Jones, Sam Rivers, Don Cherry and Arturo Sandoval and appeared in concert with Ray Charles, Natalie Cole, Johnny Mathis and Mel Torme. Among the touring shows he played were My Fair Lady, A Chorus LIne, State Fair and Peter Pan as well as the big bands of Woody Herman, Louis Bellson, Artie Shaw and Jimmy Dorsey. He and his groups played at clubs and jazz festivals around the state. |
 in the Hollywood Hitmen at MGM |
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 42nd Street pit in Munich |
From 1990 till 1996, Bruce toured extensively throughout Europe, first
with the Kingsnake Blues Caravan and later on the touring company of
42nd Street. He performed at numerous jazz
clubs including the Quasimodo in Berlin, the Unterfahrt in Munich and
Club Montmatre in Copenhagen. He was a member of the Al Porcino Jazz
Orchestra sharing the bandstand with Yugoslav trumpet great Dusko Goykovich. |
 with Fred Wesley in Kongberg, Norway |
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 with Scott Whitfield at Birdland |
Since moving to New York in 1997, Bruce has played in the big bands of Toshiko Akiyoshi, Andrew Hill, Scott Whitfield and Arturo O'Farrill. He can be heard on the Andrew Hill recording "Beautiful Day", the Scott Whitfield recordings "Live at Birdland" and "Diamonds for Nat" as well as "The Hora Decima Brass Ensemble". In addition to Birdland, Bruce has performed at The Blue Note, the Jazz Standard, and the Knitting Factory, and jazz festivals in the NYC area. |  at the Astoria Jazz Festival |
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 with Johnny Frosk |
Bruce spent 11 years regularly "making
the magic" on
Broadway. His credits include Chicago, Wicked, The Producers, The
Color Purple, The Boy From Oz, Thoroughly Modern Millie, Dirty Rotten
Scoundrels, Ragtime, Annie Get Your Gun, Bells Are Ringing, The Look
of Love, Curtains, and Wonderful Town. |
 in the pit at Chicago |
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The adventure continues - we're in
Seattle! |
 Check out some samples from Bruce's demo CD Bruce Staelens - trumpet, flugelhorn Dan Jordan - sax, flute Rick Germanson - piano Essiet Essiet - bass John Jenkins - drums |
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Haiku for the trumpet The fickle trumpet |
