The Bosman Twins

Background

By age fourteen, Dwayne and Dwight were performing as The Bosman Twins. While attending Florida A&M University (FAMU) on music scholarships, the brothers earned woodwind positions in FAMU’s highly-acclaimed “Marching 100 Band”. Soon thereafter, they formed their own group. Collectively commanding piccolo, C flute, alto flute, bass flute, baritone sax, tenor sax, alto sax, soprano sax, and clarinet, Dwayne and Dwight Bosman have since shared the concert stage with musicians such as Hugh Masekela, Freddie Cole, Branford Marsalis, Danny Mixon, Roy Ayers, and Lester Bowie, and held an engagement at one of St. Louis’ most popular jazz venues (The Moose Lounge) which lasted more than fifteen years.

In 1997, they joined the band behind soul-gospel vocalist Fontella Bass (“Rescue Me”), The Voices of St. Louis. The twins remained in The Voices of St. Louis until 2005, and appeared on two of Bass’ last recordings before her 2012 passing. Their contributions to Travellin’ (2001, Justin Time Records), Bass’ acclaimed return from a five-year hiatus, include their trademark original “DB Blues”; Dwayne played saxophone and flute on her European release Live in Italy (2003, II Manifesto), which never came out in the US.

In 2010, the Bosman Twins received the “Commitment to the Arts” award from the St. Louis Argus Foundation and the “100 Most Aspiring St. Louisians” award from the St. Louis Chapter of the NAACP. That same year, they traveled with the delegation led by St. Louis Mayor Francis G. Slay to open The American Days Festival in Stuttgarts, Germany. The Bosman Twins have also performed at the Congressional Black Caucus Annual Conference in Washington, DC, the 18th and Vine Heritage Jazz Festival in Kansas City, the St. Louis Blues Festival, the Soho Jazz Festival (London), the Lavallette Jazz Festival (Paris), and the Vienna Jazz Festival.

In 2011, Better Family Life, Inc., presented them with the “Excellence in Performing Arts” award. In November 2015, the Bosman Twins received the George Smith Diversity award from the Musicians’ Association of St. Louis Local 2-187, and were inducted into the St. Louis Jazz Hall of Fame. In January 2016, The Bosman Twins received the Excellence in the Arts award from the St. Louis Arts & Education Council. Dwayne is former Music Director at Crossroads College Preparatory School in St. Louis, while Dwight served as music instructor and Band Director in the St. Louis Public School District for more than 30 years.

In 2004, Dwayne and Dwight independently released The Bosman Twins Play Standards, introducing a larger audience to their talents in the context of familiar, classic tunes penned by Erroll Garner (“Misty”), Gigi Gryce (“Minority”), and Luiz Bonfa (“Black Orpheus”), plus one of Coltrane’s most famous compositions, “Moment’s Notice”. They returned in 2015 with their self-produced When Lions Roar.