Bruce Dudley

Adjunct Instructor in Jazz Piano

Bruce Dudley has been adjunct instructor of jazz piano at Vanderbilt Blair since 2004. He also serves on the faculty of Belmont University as associate professor of commercial music. He taught previously at Middle Tennessee State University, San Jacinto College (Houston), and St. Francis Xavier University (Nova Scotia).

Dudley earned his Bachelor of Science degree in Music, Business and Technology from New York University, his Master of Music degree in Jazz Performance from the Eastman School of Music, and his Doctor of Musical Arts degree in Jazz Studies from the University of Colorado.

Dudley has published a series of transcriptions of jazz pianist Phineas Newborn Jr. He has also published a book of piano etudes, 25 Piano Etudes in Idiomatic. His article "Reharmonization Lessons from the Masters" was published in the September 2018 issue of Downbeat.

Dudley’s recordings include DPSW Quartet Live (2019), The Solo Sessions (2012), Mostly Monk (2010), and Semblance (1997). He can also be heard on recordings by Imer Santiago (Hidden Journey), Evan Cobb (Falling Up), Sandra Dudley (Close to You), and more. He has performed with Aretha Franklin, the Nashville Symphony Orchestra, the Nelson Riddle Orchestra, The Moody Blues, Crystal Gayle, Randy Brecker, Eric Alexander, The Middle Tennessee Jazz Orchestra, The Nashville Jazz Orchestra, Buffalo Pops Orchestra, and in the pit orchestra for more than 35 touring Broadway shows. He has performed in jazz festivals throughout Canada and United States since 1987.

As a clinician, Dudley has performed and taught in Colombia (South America), across Canada and throughout the United States. He is a faculty member of Belmont University’s Young Artist Piano Invitational, which occurs in June of each year. He is also an active teacher and performer at the Nashville Jazz Workshop.

As a composer, Dudley has received commissions from The Canadian Saxophone Quintet, the Millar Brass, flutist Deanna Little (for her Inspirations from Tennessee project), Nashville Jazz Orchestra, Murfreesboro Youth Orchestra, the Penfield Commission Project, and the group CELLO. He has written music for film and television, including source music for daytime soap operas and specialty libraries.

Dudley has presented papers at Learned Societies of Canada (Laval University), Music Theory Southeast (Orlando), World Piano Pedagogy Conference (Nashville), the Intersection of Jazz and Classical Music and Piano Festival (West Virginia), and Jazz Education Network (San Diego).