Douglas Purviance

Born in Turner Station, Maryland on July 18, 1952, Douglas Purviance began his professional career as a member of the Stan Kenton Orchestra, playing bass trombone and tuba from 1975 to 1977. He largely works as a studio session bass trombonist, and is not known for improvising. He graduated from Towson State University in 1975 and obtained a masters degree from the Manhattan School of Music in 1992. He settled in New York City in 1977, playing a variety of commercial and jazz trombone jobs, and eventually claiming a chair in the Thad Jones/Mel Lewis Jazz Orchestra, now the Vanguard Jazz Orchestra. He was also a charter member of the Carnegie Hall Jazz Band, and has toured extensively with Slide Hampton, Steve Turre, Dizzy Gillespie, and the Mingus Big Band, among others. He appears as an incidental player on hundreds of recordings, notably on Grammy-nominated efforts with Joe Henderson, and the Vanguard Jazz Orchestra, but also in many other groups. On February 8, 2009, he co-won a Grammy as a producer of the CD and also a player in the Best Large Jazz Ensemble Album category for Monday Night Live At The Village Vanguard. He most recently served on the Grammy nominated OverTime: Music of Bob Brookmeyer (The Vanguard Jazz Orchestra) (2014) CD as both a bass trombonist and a producer and also as associate producer and bass trombonist on the critically acclaimed Mists: Charles Ives for Jazz Orchestra (2014) recording.

Discography

With Dee Dee Bridgewater

• Dear Ella (Verve, 1997)

With Michel Camilo

• One More Once (Columbia, 1994)

With Slide Hampton

• World of Trombones (West 54, 1979)

With Tom Harrell

• Time's Mirror (RCA Victor, 1999)

With Joe Henderson

• Big Band (Verve, 1997)

With Christian McBride

• The Good Feeling (Mack Avenue, 2011)

With Various Artists

• Eastwood After Hours (Warner Bros., 1997)