Jazz Saxophone

JAZZ SAXOPHONE

The jazz saxophone studio at the University of Tennessee is designed to provide students with the fundamental knowledge, professional wisdom, and versatility to become ready for the highly competitive international jazz scene. It is led by an internationally acclaimed jazz musician, who has spent numerous years touring the world with many of the actual architects of this music and modern masters of this era. In this studio, students are challenged to develop the skills necessary to take their playing and performance abilities to a higher level.

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Meet Our Faculty

Gregory 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 fifteen recording projects under his own name featuring his unique compositions, blending his love of traditional jazz with a more modern seeking style. His latest project, Sufficient Grace was released in the fall of 2022 on WJ3 Records.

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Private Lessons

Each jazz saxophone major will receive a weekly one-hour lesson with Professor Tardy. These lessons meet each player where they are and progress them further in developing fundamental, technical and improvisational skills.

Fundamental skills include developing a personal sound, basic saxophone technique, and sight-reading. All students learn some basic elements of saxophone maintenance to help overall performance consistency. Jazz saxophone majors regularly study the clarinet and flute, as these doubles can open up many professional opportunities.

The technical skills to be focused on include scale studies, application of jazz harmony, study of the basic elements of improvisation, rhythmic studies and stylistic approaches.

The other major area we focus on is improvisational skills. We approach this through a combination of music theoretical studies and transcription. Transcription is effective for ear training while also teaching style, technique, vocabulary, repertoire, the historical lineage of the saxophone and it teaches students to analyze and think critically about music; serving as a catalyst for further study.

Repertoire

As well as exploring the Great American Songbook, all jazz majors study compositions by the great jazz masters of yesterday and today.

Solo Class

Once a week, the jazz saxophone studio meets together for Solo Class. This class provided an opportunity for group study covering subjects such as sight-reading, repertoire and saxophone maintenance.

Performance Opportunities

All jazz saxophone majors are required to take part in the small group ensembles. There are also opportunities to audition for either the jazz big band and/or the jazz studio orchestra. In addition, all jazz saxophone majors are required to give a half-recital near the end of their junior year and a full recital near the end of their senior year. Saxophonists are sometimes asked to participate in fellow students’ recitals. Finally, many students perform regularly in venues, in and around the Knoxville area.