The CP Article

                                             

ABout The Author:

CP Christopher Peppas is a journalist, jazz vocalist and conga player in the Greater Milwaukee area and Correspondent at Large for the Jazz Unlimited Newsletter and a Field Editor for Our Wisconsin Magazine.

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Just wait ‘til you hear the marvelous BD Greer!


By CP Christopher Peppas

 

In her role as Les Clefs d’Or Chef Concierge (or Head Concierge) at the Pfister Hotel, BD (Briana Davis) Greer is charged with helping guests get the ultimate experience during their stay in Milwaukee.

Whether that’s getting primo seats to Hamilton at the Marcus Center for the Performing Arts or courtside seats for a Milwaukee Bucks playoff game.

In her role as vocalist extraordinaire, BD is tasked with doing much the same for her audience. And we can say without equivocation or fear of contradiction that she never disappoints.

It would seem, to the casual observer, that BD Greer has burst onto the local music scene (mostly jazz) from out of nowhere.

All of a sudden, we’re seeing BD Greer & The Gents at Blu at the Top of the Pfister, The St. Kate Arts Hotel, The Corners at Brookfield Beer Garden, Riverwest Pizza, Open Flame…you get the idea.

But a deeper dive reveals that BD is a seasoned pro who moved back to Wisconsin to raise her family after a most impressive career in different musical groups and settings. Her curriculum vitae matches up against the best and overshadows many, many others.

            

“I just found that there’s nothing I love more than singing,” BD said in a recent interview. Greer hails from the Fox Valley and went to New York to pursue music up her graduation from Neenah High School.

She continued her education, concentrating on the arts at AMDA, the American Musical and Dramatic Academy.

BD appeared on Broadway, sang in commercials, was a USO Girl entertaining our troops, performed on the Norwegian Cruise Line ships and, lest we forget, did about a two-year stint with the Forrest Gump actor Gary Sinise and his Lt. Dan Band.

She met her husband and moved back to the "Land of Cheese" to raise a family.

She is known mostly for being a jazz singer with her BD & The Gents group, but she can drift in and out most other genres including, but not limited to 50s and 60s, Doo Wop, Classic Rock, showtunes…the list is endless.

“I just look for songs that I can connect with…songs that tell a story that I can put my mark on,” BD said. “It’s all about finding the right people to play and mesh with.”

The Gents, her Gents as she says, are most often Mark Davis on piano, the founder of the Milwaukee Jazz Institute, Dave Bayles on drums also from MJI and Joel Lehman, a trumpeter with unrivaled chops who has been chronicled on these pages not long ago.

In addition, BD performs in the Greater Appleton area at clubs with Jazz Orgy.

Greer’s musical influences include Sarah Vaughn, Dinah Washington, Racine’s Nancy Wilson, Peggy Lee, Etta James and the breezy bluesy Bonnie Raitt.

“I don’t find it to be too hard to connect with an audience,” BD explained. “I can do “Summertime” three or four different ways…different flavors and style depending on who I’m playing with.”

As far as playing gigs goes: “It still has to work for my family.” And, in four short years since her return, “I’m known more here and in Chicago”.

BD can speak first hand about the differences in the community of musicians in New York versus here on the Third Coast.

“I feel that there’s more support here,” BD said. ”It’s a very Midwest thing. There are so many artists, it’s a big community to make good music with. It’s a ‘live or die’ thing in New York.”

Greer is excited about the prospects of the things happening here in The Athens of The Midwest. “The Fresh Coast Jazz Festival and other projects” are fast making this a hotbed.

While The Estate has an abbreviated schedule of music, many venues continually support “Live Music” like Bar Centro and Riverwest Pizza, Transfer Pizza, Brewtown Eatery, The Lodge, The Final Approach, The Packing House, Yemas, and Ally’s Bistro.

Just you wait to hear the marvelous BD Greer. 

On second thought, don’t wait another

New York minute.

 

You will not regret it.

                                                    

                                             CP Article: September 2023: Download a Hard Copy   Here

       

Previous Articles

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June 2023:  Paul Silbergleit May 2023:  Joe Schoberg April 2023:  Eric Jacobson
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March 2023:  Bill Schmidt February 2023:  Mike Arndt January 2023:  Dick Eliot
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December 2022:  Sue Russell November 2022:  Joel Lehman October 2022:  Caroline's
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September 2022:  October Concert August 2022:  Carol Hanzel July 2022:  Donna Woodall
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June 2022:  Story Hill Fire House May 2022:  Anne Davis April 2022:  Scholarship Competition
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March 2022:  Scholarship Auditions February 2022:  Peter Sorce January 2022:  Karen Cameron
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If you would like any other Previous Months, please Email us with your request and if possible we will provide them.

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December 2021:  Sue Russell November 2021: Carol Trout    Tina Moore:In Mem. October 2021: M. Daneille     Frank DeMiles:In Mem.
September 2021: October Concert     Memorials August 2021:  MJI & Mark Davis July 2021:  Steve Smith
June 2021:  Yvonne Zarcone May 2021:  50 Years Jazz Unlimited April 2021:  Scholarship Winners     Joe Jordan
March 2021:  The Cheel February 2021:  Anne Davis January 2021:  Joes "K" Ranch
     
December 2020:  Sherwood Alper November 2020:  Jordan Rattner October 2020:  J Ryan Trio
September 2020:  October Concert August 2020:  Sue Russell July 2020:  Laura Laberge 
June 2020:  Heroes     Kwasi Stampley May 2020:  The Day the Music Died April 2020:  Scholarship Winners     Jeff Stoll
March 2020:  Joe Turano February 2020:  Joe Zarcone January 2020:  Adekola Adedapo
     
December 2019:  Milwaukee Jazz History November 2019:  Brewtown October 2019:  Red Mill
September 2019:  October Concert August 2019:  Jeff Stoll July 2019:  Dwayne Williams 
June 2019:  Lem Banks May 2019:  Barbara Stephan April 2019:  Scholarship Winners     Neil Davis
March 2019:  Ellen Winters February 2019:  No Article January 2019:  Tracy Hannemann
     
December 2018:  No Article November 2018:  Cameron Webb October 2018:  Julie Brandenburg
September 2018:  October Concert August 2018:  Neil Chandek & Transfer July 2018:  Hal Miller
June 2018:  Pat & Mike D'Amores May 2018:  Pete Lange April 2018:  Augie Ray
March 2018: Spring Concert    All-Star Superband February 2018: Paul Patterson January 2018:  Edward Braithwaite
     
December 2017:  Wayne "Zim" Zimmermann November 2017:  WE 2 October 2017:  Crush Wine Bar
September 2017: DeMiles/Connie Grauer    Don Eliot

August 2017:  Floyd Dorsey

July 2017:  Jerry Grillo
June 2017:  No Article May 2017:  Steinway Gallery April 2017:  Scholarship Winners
March 2017:  Chuck Hedges Tribute Concert February 2017:  Jamie Aebersold January 2017:  Youth Jazz Outreach
     
December 2016:  The Cheel November 2016:  DeMiles     Suzanne Grzanna October 2016:  No Article
September 2016:  No Article August 2016:  Suzanne Grzanna July 2016:  No Article
June 2016:  Dave Miller May 2016: Phil Rozga April 2016:  No Article
March 2016:  No Article February 2016: Spring Concert January 2016: ofVivo
     
December 2015:  Jeannine Rivers November 2015:  Sue Russell October 2015:  Dick Eliot
September 2015:  Jack Grassel August 2015:  Jeannine Rivers July 2015:  Jeannine Rivers
  May 2015:  Jeff Stoll  

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