Jazz Studies

Chad Eby

Saxophonist and composer Chad Eby was born in Missouri in 1973. Soon after, his family moved to Iowa where he grew up and began his lifelong study of music. His musical education began on the clarinet at the age of 11, and he started to study the saxophone a year later. He went on to study music at Luther College, completing his degree in Jazz Studies at the University of North Texas. From 1995 to 1998 Eby was a featured soloist with the Dallas Jazz Orchestra and can be heard on their 1998 recording, Scrapbook. After graduating from North Texas, Eby and his wife moved to Columbus, Ohio, where he completed a Master's Degree in Saxophone Performance from Ohio State University. While in Ohio, Eby released his first album, Triptych, in 2000 which garnered critical acclaim from AllAboutJazz.com and fellow saxophonists such as Branford Marsalis and Wessel Anderson. He has shared the stage with a diverse range of artists: Regina Carter, Aretha Franklin, Branford Marsalis, Wycliffe Gordon, John Clayton, Jeff Hamilton, John Pizzarelli, Dena De Rose, Evan Christopher, Lew Tabackin, Kenny Drew, Jr., and many others. Eby has toured the Far East and opened for Chick Corea and Origin on a 1999 tour of France. He is active as a composer and arranger and received the Ohio Arts Council award for jazz composition in 2003. His big band arrangements have been performed and recorded by the Columbus Jazz Orchestra, The Dallas Jazz Orchestra, and many other collegiate jazz ensembles. Eby has also been a featured guest artist and clinician with the Columbus Youth Jazz Orchestra, Ashland University, Otterbein College, Luther College, Delta State University, and countless high schools. When not teaching or performing, Eby enjoys spending quality time with his wife Carmen and their children, Spenser and Mira. 336-334-3237 or email: ceeby@uncg.edu

Wycliffe Gordon - click for web site

Wycliffe Gordon, trombone, enjoys an extraordinary career as a performer, composer, arranger, educator, and conductor, receiving high praise and multiple awards and honors from audiences and critics alike. Gordon tours the world bringing hard-swinging, straight- ahead jazz to audiences ranging from heads of state to elementary school students. In addition, Gordon is rapidly becoming one of America’s most persuasive and committed music educators, and currently serves on the faculty of the Jazz Studies Program at The Juilliard School. In addition to a thriving solo career, he tours regularly leading the Wycliffe Gordon Quartet, headlining at legendary jazz venues throughout the world. Gordon is a former veteran member of the Wynton Marsalis Septet, The Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra, and The Gully Low Jazz Band, and has been a featured guest artist on Billy Taylor’s “Jazz at The Kennedy Center” Series. Gordon’s extensive performance experience includes work with many of the most renowned jazz performers of the past and present.

Steve Haines

Steve Haines is currently the Director of the Miles Davis Jazz Studies Program. He has performed was players such as Dick Oatts, Adam Nussbaum, Bob Berg, Joe Williams, Mark Levine, Richard Stolzman, Bruce Forman, Ellis Marsalis and Marcus Roberts; and has supported clinicians such as Tim Hagans, Fred Hersch, Mulgrew Miller, Lou Marini, Jim McNeely, Mike Stern, and Kenny Garrett. Performance venues include the Pori Jazz Festival in Finland, the Molde Jazz Festival in Norway, the Ethno Jazz Festival in Moldova, the Odessa International Jazz Carnival in Ukraine, and the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C. With the UNCG Jazz Faculty Trio, Steve served as an ambassador to the state of North Carolina by performing for heads of state at the U.S. Embassy in Chisinau, Moldova. Haines holds a BM in Jazz Performance from St. Francis Xavier University in Canada and a MM in Music (Jazz Studies) from the University of North Texas. While at the University of North Texas, Haines directed the Three O'clock Lab Band, and was a member of the One O'clock Lab Band, with whom he traveled internationally. Haines' music for large jazz ensembles is published at the University of Northern Colorado Press and has been broadcast on the Canadian Broadcasting Cooperation's national radio shows Jazz Beat and All the Best. Most recently, Steve orchestrated and arranged the musical Ella: The Life and Music of Ella Fitzgerald. He has served as a clinician and as an adjudicator for large and small jazz ensembles at numerous high schools, colleges, and universities. At UNCG, he is the Director of the Annual UNCG Honors High School Jazz Band, and the Jazz Director's Summit. 336-256-0105 or email: sjhaines@uncg.edu

Mark Mazzatenta - click for new web site

Mark Mazzatenta is active in both the jazz and classical worlds as performer and composer. He earned the Master of Music at Florida State University in 1987 and began teaching at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro, where he heads the guitar program. Mr. Mazzatenta performs with his twin brother Michael on piano and with his jazz group MAZZJAZZ. He has played in workshops with Robin Eubanks, Byron Stripling, Fred Wesley, Teri Lyne Carrington, played with Mike Stern and performed concerts with Chris and Dan Brubeck.336-334-4065 or email: mamazzat@uncg.edu

Reuben Rogers - click for web site

Reuben Rogers has a natural penchant for story telling. Rogers' musical education is punctuated by numerous outstanding student awards, most notably, a scholarship endowed by the Fish Middleton Jazz Society. He earned his Bachelor of Music in 1997 from Berklee College of Music. Rogers' command of both the electric and acoustic bass has aided him in adapting to various musical genres. This versatility in addition to the creative energy that Rogers brings to the stage and recording studio has led him to be one of the most sought after bassists of his generation. He has enjoyed the opportunity of intense musical relationships with jazz artists of world-renown, such as Wynton Marsalis, Roy Hargrove, Joshua Redman, Marcus Roberts, Nicholas Payton, Mulgrew Miller, Jackie McLean, Charles Lloyd and Dianne Reeves, amongst others. Rogers' peers continue to influence and enrich his musical style and direction. He has toured extensively all over the globe, and has recorded on over 60 CDs. His own musical narration, often shaded in a palette of blue, has reached a point in its development where a leading flight is inevitable. This can be heard on Rogers' debut solo project, "The Things I Am," co-produced by renowned saxophonist Ron Blake.

John Salmon - click for web site

John Salmon on the UNCG piano faculty since 1989, has distinguished himself as both a classical and jazz artist. Critics have cited his “mastery and virtuosity” (La Suisse, Geneva, Switzerland), called him a “tremendous pianist” (El País, Madrid, Spain), and praised his ability to “set his audience on fire” (News & Courier, Charleston, South Carolina). He has appeared at the International Bartók Festival in Hungary, the Festival Internacional de Música del Mediterráneo in Spain, and at festivals across the U.S. His performances have been broadcast on the national radio stations of Australia, Canada, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Moldova, New Zealand, Norway, Spain, Switzerland, and the Ukraine; and on National Public Radio's “Performance Today,” WFMT in Chicago, and WNYC in New York. Prizes include the Premio Jaén, as well as awards from the Busoni and Maryland competitions. He holds the Solistendiplom from the Freiburg (Germany) Hochschule für Musik, the Master of Music degree from The Juilliard School, and the Doctor of Musical Arts degree from The University of Texas. Salmon has championed piano pieces by many contemporary composers, especially Dave Brubeck who dedicated two pieces to Salmon. His two compact discs of Brubeck's piano music (Phoenix PHCD 130; and Naxos 8.559212) have received widespread critical acclaim. 336-334-5431 or email: jcsalmon@uncg.edu

Thomas Taylor

Thomas Taylor has been teaching at the University North Carolina at Greensboro as drum set professor since 2004. He is in great demand all over the Southeast for his performance as well as teaching abilities. Thomas is also one of the drum set instructors for the Jamey Aebersold Summer Jazz camps. He has performed with Ellis Marsalis, Kenny Garrett, Eric Alexander, Kevin Mahogany, Vanessa Rubin, David Baker, Bill Charlap, Cedar Walton, Mulgrew Miller and many others in concerts and clinics. Thomas has taught and performed at many festivals including The Northeastern State University Jazz Festival in Talequah, Oklahoma, The University of Louisville Jazz Week, The UNC Jazz Festival, IAJE conference in Toronto, The Ethno Jazz Festival in Moldova, The Odessa International Jazz Carnival in Ukraine, and served as an ambassador to the state of North Carolina by performing at the U.S. Embassy in Chisinau, Moldova. He has also been a performer and clinician in Japan , Alaska , Hawaii , and all over the continental United States . Thomas earned the Bachelor of Music degree from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro in 1991. Since that time he has taught at several Universities and Colleges, toured nationally and internationally, and recorded with local and national artist. email: ThomasDrum@aol.com