JAZZ ENSEMBLES
Quality jazz ensemble opportunities abound at the University of Tennessee. Although all of the groups play regularly on campus, most of these ensembles are active in the community as well, presenting concerts throughout the entire region.
Jazz Big Band
Directed by Keith Brown, the Big Band is a vital part of each student’s education. The group performs a wide variety of music from the libraries of Count Basie, Duke Ellington, Thad Jones, Bob Brookmeyer, as well as student and faculty compositions and arrangements.
The band performs many concerts each year which includes at least one concert featuring a guest artist of renown. Guest artists of recent years have included Frank Foster, Gary Foster and Marvin Stamm.
Small Jazz Ensembles
Small Jazz Ensembles are given top priority at the University of Tennessee. Ten to fifteen small jazz ensembles rehearse twice each week and are coached by faculty members and graduate assistants. The groups range in skill level from beginning level to advanced and play a wide range of repertoire.
In addition to the on-campus concerts, many of the groups are given the opportunity to play gigs in the community throughout the year. Additionally, many of the groups record regularly and have been honored in international publications such as Downbeat magazine.
UT Trombone Choir
The UT Trombone Choir, directed by Alex van Duuren, enjoys a long tradition of excellence and is regarded as one of the most outstanding ensembles of its type in the country. The group’s repertoire is large, encompassing jazz as well as traditional music.
Meet Our Faculty
Keith Brown
Distinguished Lecturer/Adjunct Associate Professor of Percussion | [email protected]
Keith Brown is a Distinguished Lecturer at the University of Tennessee where in addition to teaching applied drum set, he is the Director of Jazz Bands and coordinator of small Jazz Ensembles. He is an active performer playing regularly with several groups including Mark Boling’s Trio Life, and the Knoxville Jazz Orchestra where he has performed with (among others) Monty Alexander, Mulgrew Miller, Hank Jones, John Clayton, Maceo Parker, Wycliffe Gordon, James Moody, Jimmy Heath, Terrel Stafford, Stefon Harris, Karrin Allyson, Gregory Porter, Ingrid Jensen, John Pizzarelli, Ken Peplowski, Eric Reed, James Morrison, Warren Wolf, Cecile McLorin Salvant, and Christian McBride
He has also performed with Zim Ngqawana, Marvin Stamm, Doc Severinsen, Tommy Flanagan, Jerry Coker, Rick Simerly, Will Campbell, Greg Tardy, Donald Brown, Jeff Coffin and others.
He is featured on numerous CDs including several with the Knoxville Jazz Orchestra, and Boling, Brown, & Holloway. His recording with South African Saxophonist Zim Ngqawana Zimology In Concert (USA 2008) won a SAMA for best traditional jazz recording in 2008.
He is an active clinician giving both drum set workshop/clinics and with regional honor jazz bands.
He endorses Meinl cymbals and Innovative Percussion drumsticks. He is very involved with the Percussive Arts Society and has contributed articles to its official publication
Jon Hamar
Associate Professor of Jazz & Classical Double Bass | [email protected]
Jon Hamar is a versatile artist who has been recognized for his ability to find a tasteful unique voice in any musical situation. Jon recently moved from Seattle to Knoxville, Tennessee joining the University of Tennessee School of Music.
Jon has two degrees to show for his years of study. Jon earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Classical Double Bass Performance from Eastern Washington University under the tutelage of Roma Vayspapir and Kelly Ferris. Jon graduated from the Eastman School of Music with a Master’s degree in Jazz and Contemporary Media, studying with Jeffrey Campbell, James Vandermark, Harold Danko, Clay Jenkins, Raymond Ricker, and Fred Sturm.Jon has performed with Ernestine Anderson, Benny Golson, Bob Mintzer, Steve Wilson, Benny Green, Regina Carter, Jeff Hamilton, Sachal Vasandani, Geoffrey Keezer, Terrell Stafford, and Pete Christlieb. Jon also performs regularly in an orchestral setting recording on movie soundtracks, and playing recitals and concerts.
Eric Reed
Lecturer/Artist in Residence/Adjunct Assistant Professor of Jazz Piano | [email protected]
Eric Reed is an influential fixture in music as pianist, composer, arranger, bandleader, and champion of young musicians. From his cultural roots in his father’s Baptist church in Philadelphia, to his West Coast tutelage under the likes of Teddy Edwards, Gerald Wilson, and Buddy Collette, through the bands of Freddie Hubbard, Joe Henderson, Buster Williams, and Wynton Marsalis, Eric has amassed a laudable discography of iconic recordings, an extensive repertoire of compositions and arrangements, and an impressive list of credits in film & TV scores, musical theater, and in prestigious venues the world over. Affectionately known as “Poppa Reed,” Eric encourages bourgeoning artists through complete access and endless conversations on becoming not only professional artists, but also individuals who can have a positive impact on humanity.
Denin Slage-Koch
Lecturer of Guitar | [email protected]
Having been praised as possessing “pristine playing, meticulous composing” and “a very personal voice deserving of attention,” award-winning guitarist, composer, and educator Denin Slage-Koch has done a lot. He’s played and recorded with artists like Ryan Keberle, Shane Endsley, Carmen Bradford, Clay Jenkins, Brad Goode, Wycliffe Gordon, and the Colorado Symphony, written music for artists like Melissa Aldana and Carmen Bradford, recorded three albums of original music and served as sideman for many more, published a book, and is a full-time member of the jazz faculty at the University of Tennessee Knoxville – and he’s not even 30 years old yet. Put simply, he is one of the most exciting and unique rising musicians on the scene today.
Greg Tardy
Associate Professor of Jazz Saxophone | [email protected]
Associate Professor of Music in Jazz Saxophone Gregory Tardy is one of the most versatile jazz musicians of his generation, equally comfortable in a variety of musical and improvisational situations. Born into a musical family, he began his musical career studying classical clarinet with Russell Dagon and Jack Snavely. In his early 20s, while preparing for a symphony career he discovered jazz saxophone and hasn’t looked back.
In 1993, he started playing with the legendary drummer, Elvin Jones. As a sought after sideman he has played in the bands of many prominent jazz artists including: Andrew Hill, Tom Harrell, Dave Douglas, Wynton Marsalis, Jay McShann, Nicholas Payton, Roy Hargrove, Steve Coleman, Betty Carter, Don Byron, Bill Frisell, Rashied Ali, Ellis Marsalis, Brian Lynch, John Patitucci, and many more. He has also performed and/or recorded along with many other notable saxophonists, such as Joe Lovano, Mark Turner, Chris Potter, Dewey Redman, Ravi Coltrane, and others. In more recent years, Tardy has gone full circle, by focusing on his clarinets more, using them on recordings by Tom Harrell, Ohad Talmor/Steve Swallow, Stefan Harris, Chris Potter and Andrew Hill.
His performance schedule has taken him all over the world, playing at all of the major jazz festivals and on some of the biggest stages in jazz. As a sideman, he has been featured on several Downbeat Albums of the Year and also several Grammy nominated recordings; including a Grammy winning CD with Brian Lynch in 2006. Since 1992, he also has recorded fourteen CDs under his own name featuring his unique compositions, blending his love of traditional jazz with a more modern seeking style. His latest project, If Time Could Stand Still, was released in the fall of 2020 on WJ3 Records.
Vance Thompson
Adjunct Assistant Professor of Studio Music & Jazz | [email protected]
Trumpeter, arranger and composer Vance Thompson is the director of the Knoxville Jazz Orchestra, a seventeen piece big band comprised of the top professional players in East Tennessee. Thompson founded the group in 1999 and established a non-profit organization to support it in 2000. It has since developed into one of the region’s most respected arts organizations.
The organization presents an annual six-concert big band series, a monthly small group concert series and an outdoor Summer series that runs weekly from May through August. It also sponsors an honors band for high school students and presents free, in-school concerts throughout the school year.
The Knoxville Jazz Orchestra has appeared at major jazz festivals in Europe, released five critically acclaimed CD recordings and sold-out dozens of events in venues ranging from 280 to over 1,500 seating capacity. Artists who have appeared with the band include pianists Hank Jones, Monty Alexander, Mulgrew Miller and Donald Brown; bassists John Clayton and Eddie Gomez; saxophonists James Moody, Maceo Parker, Vincent Herring and Greg Tardy; trumpeters Terrel Stafford, Marcus Printup, Sean Jones and Ingrid Jensen; trombonists Wycliffe Gordon and Conrad Herwig; clarinetist Ken Peplowski; vibraphonist Stefon Harris; and multi-instrumentalist James Morrison.
The orchestra’s CD recordings feature Thompson’s arrangements and have received heavy airplay across North America on Sirius satellite radio’s “Real Jazz” channel and other nationally syndicated broadcasts. These recordings have earned four star reviews in Downbeat Magazine and All Music Guide, topped the sales charts on popular internet music sites like Emusic.com and been spotlighted on NPR’s All Songs Considered.Thompson is originally from East Tennessee and is a graduate of the music programs at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville and DePaul University in Chicago. Thompson taught improvisation and small jazz ensembles at DePaul before moving back to Knoxville in 1999. In addition to teaching private trumpet lessons and coaching small jazz ensembles, Thompson teaches classes in jazz arranging, jazz history, jazz styles and music business.