5/5/98
ATHENS, Ohio -- Nationally revered jazz musicians Mike Steinel, a trumpeter, and drummer Ed Soph will headline the Ohio University School of Music's annual Jazz Fest May 8-9. The two guest artists will participate in a series of performances and workshops throughout the two-day festival along with university and community jazz ensembles.
Steinel and Soph are widely acknowledged as two of the most important jazz teachers and performers active today, says Matt James, assistant professor of saxophone and jazz studies. The two will be featured in programs with the Ohio University Jazz Ensemble and the Jazz Percussion Ensemble. The O.U. Jazztet and the Athens Community Music School Big Band are also scheduled to perform.
At 8 p.m. Friday, May 8, a jazz combos concert will be held at Baker Center Ballroom. On Saturday Steinel will lead an improvisation clinic in room 494 of the School of Music Building and Soph will lead a drumset clinic in room 101. Both of those events begin at 2:30 p.m. At 8 p.m. Saturday a jazz ensembles concert featuring the Athens Community Music School Big Band, the Ohio University Jazz Percussion Ensemble and the Ohio University Jazz Ensemble is scheduled at the Baker Center Ballroom. All events are free and open to the public.
"Mike Steinel and Ed Soph are unique in that they both have the rare talent of simultaneously being exceptional musicians and educators," James says. "I have had the privilege of studying jazz improvisation with Mike Steinel at the University of North Texas and can say he is a demanding yet encouraging teacher. In addition, Ed Soph's drumming in small-group settings is tasteful and at the same time complimentary to the musicians who surround him."
Steinel, associate professor of jazz studies at the University of North Texas, is a trumpeter, pianist, composer and arranger. He has served with numerous jazz artists, including Clark Terry, Don Ellis, Bill Evans and Jerry Bergonzi and has recorded with the Chicago Jazz Quintet and the Frank Mantooth Big Band. In 1993 he served as co-chair of the Jazz Advisory Panel for the National Endowment for the Arts.
Soph, also an associate professor at North Texas, has taught jazz worldwide, including Great Britain, Australia, New Zealand, Germany, Austria and Canada. He is the author of Essential Techniques for Drumset and The Big Band Primer and co-authored an instructional video, The Drumset: A Musical Approach. He has performed or recorded with an array of jazz musicians, including Stan Kenton, Bill Watrous and Woody Herman.