| Ed Soph |
Ed Soph is internationally recognized as an author, master teacher, and musician. He has presented masterclasses throughout Europe, the Mid and Far East, Australia and New Zealand.
He is the author of ESSENTIAL TECHNIQUES FOR DRUMSET, FUNDAMENTAL STUDIES FOR DRUMSET, and THE BIG BAND PRIMER. His video, THE DRUMSET: A MUSICAL APPROACH, is distributed by Warner Bros.
As a performer and recording artist, Ed has been associated with the big bands of Stan Kenton, Woody Herman, Bill Watrous, and Clark Terry. Small group credits include trumpeters Randy Brecker, Ingrid Jensen, Red Rodney, Bobby Shew, Marvin Stamm, Ira Sullivan, and Clark Terry; saxophonists Eddie Daniels, Joe Henderson, Marchel Ivery, Pat LaBarbera, Dave Liebman, Dave Pietro, and Chris Potter; trombonists Carl Fontana, Urbie Green, Slide Hampton, Bill Watrous, and Jiggs Whigham; and, pianists Warren Bernhardt, David Catney, Bill Evans, Stefan Karlsson, Joe LoCascio, Bill Mays, Cedar Walton, and James Williams.
Ed is an Artist Clinician for the Yamaha Corporation of America, the Avedis Zildjian Company, and Evans Drumheads.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
This exciting new release features trumpet great Marvin Stamm and drummer Ed Soph captured live at the world famous Birdland club in New York City. Marvin and Ed are joined by Bill Mays on piano, Rufus Reid on bass, and special guest John Abercrombie on guitar
Why a "live" CD? Why at Birdland?
There are times when everything just seems right for doing something like this. The quartet had several bookings in the New York area within the space of eight days - a concert in Connecticut, the COTA Festival in Delaware Water Gap, PA, and four nights in Birdland in New York City. Ed Soph and I had been talking about recording another CD, and this seemed to be the perfect time. We’ve spoken often of making a "live" recording of the quartet because this is how we play - the music open and "controlled" only by our own musical communication, sensitivity, and taste. This is who we really are as a group! Birdland seemed to be the optimum place for several reasons: the owners have created a "customer-friendly" environment that produces a relaxed atmosphere for the audiences; the New York audiences at Birdland are musically "hip" audiences; Birdland has installed quality recording equipment, making it unnecessary to bring in outside equipment. Working with these musicians as a group - Ed, Bill, and Rufus - always produces very special moments. None of us takes these events for granted or looks upon them as "just another gig." Each of us really comes to play! We invited John Abercrombie to join us at Birdland. He has performed with us several times in the past and fits in beautifully with our approach to the music. John is an extraordinarily sensitive and gifted musician. For me, performing with this group is a pinnacle of sorts because these are the guys with whom I want to play; they are my choice! Marvin Stamm, 2005
|
|
| 1977 Jazz Camp Brockport, N.Y. |
© Tom Marcello
|
Clark Terry and his Jolly Giants perform at the Pakistan American Cultural Center.
L to R: Hilton Ruiz (piano; not visible); Clark Terry (trumpet); Victor Sproles (bass); Ed Soph (drums); Chris Woods (saxophone). - Karachi, Pakistan, 1978
On this last extended State Department jazz tour before the program ended in 1978, Terry relished the opportunity to meet and play for people from all walks of life. After Pakistan, he flew to India to lead an international band on behalf of the U.S. government at the Bombay Jazz Yatra.
Courtesy of Special Collections, University of Arkansas Libraries, Fayetteville.
|
|
Ed Soph Ride Cymbal...
|
Bernhard, do you have any idea what his main ride is in that video? It appears to be a Zildjian K Constantinople, but what size/weight. That cymbal is to die for. And man, would I love to enroll at Nort Texas and study with him.
-Stu Strib, January 2005 |
The ride cymbal I used on the DVD is a 22" Zildjian Constantinople,
"Medium Thin High". It is a wonderful cymbal. I use it for everything
from jazz piano trio to big band. It's so good that even non-drummers
say how much they like it!
Ed Soph, January 2005 |
|
|
PASIC 2002 Clinic Review - Ed Soph
|
|
I had the pleasure of watching one of the best jazz drummers alive perform and give a clinic at PASIC this year. I might be a little biased, since he is also my private instructor at the University of North Texas. But I still think he is an incredible player and educator. He spoke about many things during his brief one-hour clinic, but the main points were: dependency, balance, and consistency. Ed discussed these three topics mostly in relationship to improvising on drum set since that is what we do all of the time. Some people will want to differentiate between keeping time and improvising, even though they are the same thing. If they weren’t, there would be no time in improvising and “keeping time” would just be a repetitive pattern that might as well be played by a drum machine.
Mr. Soph stressed that not enough drummers pay attention to their upstrokes. He said that if your upstroke length doesn’t equal your down stroke length, then you will not have steady time. From my own experience, this is very true. He also talked about setting up your kit. He elaborated, “Build a technique that allows for freedom of motion.” He stressed the importance of setting up your kit in a close natural way. Ed continued to discuss comping on drum set and how it should be on all parts of the kit and that you must know the tune in order to know when to comp and fill. Distilled into his own words: “Music is a combination of sound and silence.”
The clinic continued with demonstrations in a trio with a bass player and guitarist from the local college in Ohio. Mr. Soph demonstrated how his technique and all of the things he had been talking about could be applied to any style. They played Doxy in many different styles to prove this point. They played it as a New Orleans strut, 20’s jazz style, swing band style, shuffle, funk, bossa, samba, be-bop, and modern jazz style. This demonstration was the most impressive of the clinic. Mr. Soph’s experience with Stan Kenton, Woody Herman, Bill Watrous, and Clark Terry shown through as he dazzled the audience with his ability to change styles at a moments notice without losing or gaining any speed or momentum. Overall, the clinic was great fun to watch and extremely educational.
|
|
By Scott Reno Brian - M.M Candidate @ UNT, Percussionist, Teacher, Composer
Source: PASIC 2002 Section
|
|
|
THE TEACHER...
performed with:
Clark Terry
John Adams
Michael Bloomfield
Marvin Stamm
David Friesen
Stan Smith
Lou Fischer
Tony Campise
Dave Catney
Duke Ellington
Carl Fontana
Dan Haerle
Fred Hamilton
Joe Henderson
Woody Herman
Marchel Ivery
Stefan Karlsson
David Liebman Quartet
Joe Locascio
John McNeil
Sammy Nestico
One O'Clock Lab Band Eric Scortia "Scortch"
Bobby Shew
Howie Smith
Tony Klatka
Stefan Karlsson
Wally Heider
Ernie Wilkins
Sal Nistico
Buddy Powers
Victor Sproles
Ronnie Mathews
Ed Bland
Richard Gene
Williams Tom Warrington
Don Switzer
Bill Stapleton
Jack Jeffers
Tom Harrell
...and many more
|
|
