Jazz Studies

Quick Contacts

UIC Department of Performing Arts
College of Architecture and the Arts
EPASW Bldg. 1040 W. Harrison St. MC-255
Chicago, IL 60607-7130
phone 312-996-2977 | fax 312-996-0954

Orbert Davis
Trumpet, Jazz Improvisation, and Jazz Aesthetics

UIC Education in Jazz

Information, Exposure, and Experience

Education in Jazz at the University of Illinois at Chicago is designed for the student seeking a professional career in jazz and related fields of contemporary music.The philosophical objective is to develop the special talents of the creative jazz artist as well as the flexible skills required of the successful, well-rounded musician through information, exposure and experience. The comprehensive curriculum includes weekly private instruction, improvisation study in small classroom workshops, and extensive courses in jazz theory, arranging, composition, jazz history, and jazz keyboard.

Chicago provides a busy and diverse working environment for jazz, classical, and commercial musicians, and many students find professional playing opportunities off campus. The students of UIC can experience all that the Chicago jazz community has to offer. This experience includes many opportunities for exposure and interaction with organizations and events such as Jazz at Symphony Center, The Jazz Institute of Chicago, Jazz Unites, the Ravinia Festival, The Chicago Jazz Philharmonic, The Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians, Millennium Park's Made in Chicago Series and the world-renowned Chicago Jazz Festival.

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Jazz Faculty

Zvonimir Tot
Assistant Director of Jazz Studies, Music Theory, Ear Training, Applied Jazz Guitar, Small Jazz Ensemble, Guitar Ensemble

Dr. Zvonimir Tot is a jazz guitarist, composer, and arranger with a style deeply rooted in the jazz tradition but flavored by his European origin.

As a jazz musician, Tot has performed and/or recorded in The Netherlands, Germany, Belgium, Hungary, Serbia, the Czech Republic , Romania , and Croatia. He has performed with many world-renowned artists, including saxophonists Scott Hamilton, Billy Harper and Peter King, organist Joey DeFrancesco, violinists Johnny Frigo and Stefan Milenkovich, drummers Ernie Adams, Paul Wertico and Byron Landham, bassists Niels-Henning Ørsted Pedersen, John Clayton and Hein Van de Geyn, trumpeter Orbert Davis, pianists Larry Novak and Larry Vuckovich, guitarists Philip Catherine, Henry Johnson and Paulinho Garcia, vocalists Jackie Allen, Carmen Lundy and Deborah Carter, and Chicago Jazz Philharmonic.

Tot is the founder and owner of Groove Art Records, as well as full member of ASCAP, GRAMMY, The National Association for Music Education and American Composers Forum. As a bandleader, he has recorded three CDs for Groove Art Records: “Unspoken Desire” (2007), “Blue Quest” (2007), and “Travels and Dreams” (2004), as well as several CDs as a sideman for various labels. Since 2005, Zvonimir Tot’s biography has been included in Who’s Who in America, published by Marquis Publishing. He is an endorsing artist for Godin Guitars and Acoustic Image Amplifiers.

Zvonimir Tot holds a doctorate from University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, a master’s degree from Northern Illinois University, as well as bachelor’s degrees from Franz Liszt Academy of Musical Arts (Budapest, Hungary) and Amsterdam Conservatory (The Netherlands). For more iinformation, go to www.zt-music.com.

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Ernie Adams
Percussion Ensemble, Applied Jazz Drums and Percussion

Ernie Adams is a very experienced, high profile all-styles drummer, who has performed and recorded with many of the worlds greatest musicians. He is known for his perfect timing, solid groove, and brilliant technique that he combines with great musical taste and a wonderful personaity.

He has performed, recorded, and toured with the likes of Ramsey Lewis, AI DiMiola, Joe Williams, Billy Dickens, Arturo Sandoval, Steve Cole, Dianne Reeves, Stanley Turrentine, Ahmad Jamal, Richie Cole, James Moody, Joe Zawinul, Slide Hampton, Clark Terry, Orbert Davis, the Chicago Jazz Philharmonic, and the list goes on.

Having graduated as Jazz major from University of Wisconsin - Milwaukee , Ernie has been a Ravinia Jazz Mentor since1995, tutoring young drummers and percussionists.

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Ari Brown
Applied Jazz Saxophone

Popular tenor saxophonist/pianist, Ari Brown is an important member of the Chicago avant-garde jazz scene. He's part of Kahil EI'Zabar's Ritual Trio, plays in Elvin Jones' group with fellow Chicagoan Willie Pickens, and has performed with Anthony Braxton, Muhal Richard Abrams, Lou Rawls, B.B. King, Chuck Berry and the Art Ensemble of Chicago .

His technique and traditional jazz chops are excellent and highly expressive on both of his instruments. Chicago Reader critic Peter Margasak calls Brown "A terrific saxophonist with a deep understanding of both bop's complex rhythms and the wild expressionism of free jazz." Ari blends two traditions; the Chicago tough tenor and the AACM. He melds them into one voice. And no matter how far out he takes the music it still remains accessible and enjoyable.

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Peter Stoltzman
Piano, Keyboard Skills

Recent highlights include touring Japan and recording with drummer Steve Gadd, bassist Eddie Gomez and marimba virtuoso Mika Yoshida. Peter has two releases on Blue Canoe Records - with the jazz quintet, The New Five (2009), and the Ron Westray/Thomas Heflin project (2010). Peter has independently released a 3-CD package of all original music (a finalist for the 2005 Independent Music Awards), a solo piano CD and a CD of piano and clarinet repertoire with his father, Richard Stoltzman. His new trio record, “Walk the Path,” was released in October, 2009, to rave reviews in Austin. Peter will release a live trio recording in late 2011. Peter is the pianist in the Gabriel Santiago Quintet, with a DVD release and Brazilian tours planned in 2011.

Peter has performed at the Hollywood Bowl and Carnegie Hall, and concert halls around the globe, with luminaries such as Alex Acuna, Kazumi Watanabe, and Yosvanny Terry. Peter and his father have been featured on WNYC, Sirius Satellite Radio, NPR, and CBS Sunday Morning. Peter’s piano playing and arrangements also are featured on his father’s BMG Japan releases, “Bach Fantasies and Variations” and “Lamento,” and published in the Richard Stoltzman Songbook (Carl Fischer, 2002).

A student of Joanne Brackeen, Charlie Banacos and Bob Brookmeyer (and many others), Peter graduated with a Bachelor’s Degree in Jazz Performance from Berklee College of Music in 1999. After Berklee, Peter lived in New York City, where he recorded and performed with an eclectic variety of artists including drummer Deantoni Parks and Kudu, rapper Jah Dan and Noble Society, guitarist John Shannon and Waking Vision, and the American Music Award-winning funk band The Bomb Squad.

In 2004, Peter earned his Master’s Degree in Jazz Composition with Academic Honors and Distinction in Performance, along with a Concentration in Music in Education from New England Conservatory. In 2010, Peter won first prize in the Philips Jazz Piano Competition. After four years pursuing a doctoral degree in Music and Human Learning from the University of Texas, Peter begins a full-time teaching position at the University of Illinois at Chicago in 2011-2012.

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Joel Spencer
Conductor, Jazz Ensemble, Jazz History

Joel Spencer has been a Professional Musician and Music Educator for the past 27 years.
As a professional drummer, Joel has performed with a number of internationally known
jazz artists in Chicago and throughout the world. These appearances have included such
artists as Weather Report alumnus Wayne Shorter, David Liebman, Hank Jones, Cedar
Walton, Barney Kessel, Clark Terry, Michael Feinstein, Cissy Houston, the Red Rodney
Quintet, Joe Williams, Scott Hamilton, John Campbell, Dorothy Donegan, the Count
Basie Band, Chet Baker, Sonny Stitt, Junior Mance, Phil Woods, Wynton Marsalis,
Benny Golson, and pianist/conductor Daniel Barenboim formerly of the Chicago Symphony
Orchestra.

In recent years Joel has traveled to Europe appearing at Tivoli Gardens in Copenhagen
with the Jazz Members Big Band, the Umbria Jazz Festival in Perugia, Italy with vocalist
Joe Williams and pianist Dorothy Donegan, The North Sea Jazz Festival in Holland with
jazz pianist Ellis Marsalis and bassist Major Holly and the Red Sea Jazz Festival in Eilat,
Israel with Frank Tiberi and a select group of Chicago musicians sponsored by the
Ameritech Corporation. Most recently, Joel appeared on the Oprah Winfrey Show with legendary vocalist Barbra Streisand.

In 1978 Spencer earned his Bachelor of Science in Music Education from the University of
Illinois and continued on at Illinois as a Graduate Teaching Assistant in the Jazz
Ensemble Program under the tutelage of the late celebrated musician and instructor, Professor John Garvey. From 2006-2008 Joel served as Director of Jazz Studies at Northwestern University and in 2010 earned his MM in Jazz Performance at the University of Illinois (Urbana-Champaign).

www.spencerdrums.com

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Patricia Barber
Applied Jazz Vocals

Patricia Barber is an internationally renowned jazz vocalist, pianist, and composer. She has released nine CDs as a leader for Premonition Records and Blue Note Records, and is a recipient of the Guggenheim Fellowship for Composition. Ms. Barber regularly sells out concerts in European capitals; Paris is her musical second home. She has performed in major performance centers such as Carnegie Hall, Herbst Hall in San Francisco, the Opéra Comique and Cité de la Musique in Paris, the Cemal Resit Concert Hall in Istanbul, and major performing arts centers in such far-flung capitals as Seoul and Moscow. She has received rave receptions at major jazz festivals the world over, including the North Sea Jazz Festival, Umbria Jazz, and others in Chicago, San Francisco, Montreal, Monterrey, Nice, New York, Dublin, Paris, Korea, and Vancouver.

Bill Zehme of Esquire Magazine wrote: "Patricia Barber makes jazz the way Tiffany makes crystal -- sleek and smart and dazzling.” The New York Times called her a “literary critic, philosophy student, and needling social commentator rolled into one." The Minneapolis Star Tribune summed her up as “Part [Cole] Porter, Part Prince, All Art,” adding that Barber is “the most complete jazz artist today.”

For more information go to www.patriciabarber.com.

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Henry Johnson
Applied Jazz Guitar

The Chicago-born guitarist began playing at age twelve. While spending some formative time in
Memphis, he started playing gospel music at age thirteen. By age fourteen, Johnson was
playing in R&B groups. Although Johnson's parents brought him up hearing the music of Duke
Ellington, Count Basie, Joe Williams, and other artists of that era, it was not until 1967 that
Johnson was formally introduced to jazz by hearing guitarist Wes Montgomery. In 1969,
Johnson and his family then moved back to Chicago where he developed a reputation on the
south side as a good local jazz guitarist. In 1976, he went on the road with jazz organist Jack
McDuff and was called to work with vocalist, Donny Hathaway in 1977.
In 1979, Johnson began playing with jazz pianist, Ramsey Lewis. And in 1985, jazz legend, Joe

Williams added Johnson to his regular group. Johnson's musical roots run deep into gospel,
blues, and jazz. His strongest and earliest influences were Kenny Burrell, George Benson, and
most significantly, Wes Montgomery. While influenced by these great guitarists, Johnson also
cites the music of Herbie Hancock, Oscar Peterson, Freddie Hubbard, Miles Davis, big bands,
and jazz orchestras as integral forces which shaped his sound and style.
"You're The One," his recording debut for MCA/Impulse! achieved #1 status on both the Radio &
Records NAC chart, and Contemporary Jazz chart for two months - a rare occurrence for a first
recording. This recording also won a five star rating in Downbeat magazine, and was nominated
for a Grammy. Jazz Times reviewer Diane Patrick called "You're The One" "A thoughtful piece
of work which may well become a jazz guitar classic."

Johnson's follow-up recordings, "Future Excursions" and "Never Too Much" also reached the
top ten of the charts. "New Beginnings" was Johnson's debut recording for the Heads Up
International jazz label. Johnson's music has been a favorite at radio stations world wide since
the release of his very first CD, and the appeal of his music continued with the release of his
second recording for Heads Up International, titled "Missing You."

In addition to his solo recording projects, Johnson has found time to record with the likes of
Ramsey Lewis, vocalists, Joe Williams and Vanessa Ruben, and saxophonist Richie Cole
among many others. He has performed with Nancy Wilson, Marlena Shaw, Angela Bofil, Dizzy
Gillespie, the Boston Pops, Sonny Stitt, Freddie Hubbard, Grover Washington Jr., Stanley
Turrentine, Dr. Billy Taylor, and organist Jimmy Smith, James Moody, David "Fathead"
Newman, Terry Gibbs, Bobby Watson, Nicholas Payton, and many other great jazz artists.
Seeing the need to re-invent himself, in 1999, Johnson recorded a cd onboard the QE 2 called,
"An Evening At Sea" which was well received by the jazz world.

Johnson's most recent group is patterned after the hard swinging jazz groups of the '60's using
the instrumentation of guitar, sax, organ, and drums. Johnson's latest recording on A440 Music
Group is called "Organic" and features legendary vocalist Nancy Wilson. This powerhouse
group the Organ Express, has been exciting audiences the world over. Along with being
contributing writer for Just Jazz Guitar, Downbeat, and Jazz Improv, Johnson teaches Jazz
Guitar Studies on the Jazz Faculty of the prestigious Chicago College of Performing Arts.

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Stewart Miller
Applied Jazz Bass

Bassist Stewart Miller is a native of Louisville , KY, a graduate of music programs at the University of Kentucky and Northern Illinois University , and a regular in jazz clubs, recording studios, and festivals in and around Chicago .

After two years of touring with the Glenn Miller Orchestra in the early 1980s, Stewart worked in a wide variety of musical settings in the Louisville-Lexington-Cincinnati area and eventually came to Chicago in 1987.

He can be heard on recent recordings by Chicago jazz artists such as Orbert Davis, Russ Phillips, Bobby Schiff, and Judy Roberts, and on Delmark Records 2004 release Up Jumped Spring by legendary trombonist Curtis Fuller.

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Office of Jazz Studies Rm. L038, EPASW Building Tel +1(312)996-2977 Email dpa@uic.edu