2016 KHSDI TEACHING STAFF
Evan Hyde
Evan Hyde is a drummer, composer, and educator currently based out of Miami, FL. Originally from Grand Rapids, MI, Evan has worked as an in-‐demand
drummer/percussionist since he was in high school. Evan graduated from Western Michigan University, where he studied drum set with Keith Hall, and then went on to begin graduate studies at William Paterson University, and eventually completed his degree at the University of Miami’s Frost School of Music where he worked as a teaching assistant, and was awarded a fellowship to the Henry Mancini Institute. Evan has been mentored by some of the today’s most prolific figures in jazz,
including pianist Mulgrew Miller, trumpeter Terence Blanchard, and drummer Billy Hart. His abilities as a drummer and composer have been recognized by DownBeat Magazine’s Student Music Awards, and have earned him a competitive spot in the "Betty Carter’s Jazz Ahead” artist-‐in-‐residence program and the Banff Centre’s “Workshop for Jazz & Creative Music.” Recently, Evan has performed with Stanley Jordan, Cheryl Bentyne, John Daversa, Shelly Berg, Helen Sung, Kenny Barron, Antonio Adolfo & Carol Saboya, Gene Perla, Ira Sullivan, Dave Douglas, Brian Lynch, and Take 6. Evan is excited to return to Kalamazoo for his 9th summer teaching at the Keith Hall Summer Drum Intensive.
Jay Sawyer
Born in Grand Rapids, MI, Jay Sawyer has studied jazz drumming with several outstanding and well-‐respected jazz artists, including the great Billy Hart, Tim Froncek, Keith Hall and Dana Hall. Each nurtured his passion and skill for the art of jazz percussion. As a student at Western Michigan University, Jay performed with the well known WMU Jazz Orchestra and Jazz Nonet under the direction of
Professors Trent Kynaston and Scott Cowan. These groups toured extensively and participated in several well-‐known jazz festivals that include the Notre Dame, Elmhurst and Detroit Jazz Festivals. Jay continued his studies as Graduate Assistant to Dana Hall while at The University of Illinois at Urbana-‐Champaign. There he worked with such artists as Chip McNeill, Chip Stephens, Jim Pugh, Tito Carillo, Glenn Wilson, Ron Bridgewater, Dana Hall and many others. Jay received his
Bachelors of Music from Western Michigan University and his Masters of Music from The University of Illinois. He has performed or shared the stage with artists such as Benito Gonzales, Stefon Harris, Donny McCaslin and many others. He has also performed at the Detroit and Chicago Jazz Festivals as well as many other
prominent venues around the USA. Jay currently resides in New York City and this is his 7th year teaching at the Keith Hall Drum Intensive.
Christian Euman
Hailed as one of the “six drummers you should know about” by Revive Music, Christian Euman has definitely earned his right to be included on such a list of percussionists rising in the music scene. After graduating from Western Michigan University’s jazz studies program, Christian successfully auditioned for the
Thelonious Monk Institute of Jazz Performance, where he has studied and
performed with Herbie Hancock, Wayne Shorter, Dee Dee Bridgewater, Chris Potter, Jimmy Heath, Stefon Harris, and more. Aside from the Institute, Christian has
performed and toured with Kurt Elling, Billy Childs, Walter Smith III, Geoff Keezer, Bob Sheppard, Marquis Hill, and many more. He has performed at countless music festivals throughout the States, Europe, and Africa, including headlining
performances at the North Sea Jazz Festival with Elling and the Playboy Jazz Festival with Hancock, Shorter, and the Monk Fellows. Christian has also established himself as an appreciable bandleader and composer, having projects featured throughout the country such as his octet and his double-‐drums ensemble, Drums & Symbols. Christian is a proud endorser of Canopus Drums.
Steven Perry
Steven Perry is entering his fourth year, and third as a coach with the Keith Hall Summer Drum Intensive. Originally from Osceola, Indiana he is now a senior in the Jazz Studies program at Western Michigan University. While at Western, Steven has had the opportunity to study and perform with many incredible artists including Edward Simon, Randy Brecker, and Miguel Zenon. Outside of WMU's program he has performed with Turkish Blue Note recording artist Onder Focan and has also played various musicals on Drum Set and Percussion in the Kalamazoo area. Steven is the drummer for up-‐and-‐coming funk band, Crime Funk, as well as recent
Downbeat award winning group, Lasse Grunewald Quartet. He frequently performs at the Union Cabaret and Grille in Downtown Kalamazoo and hosts a weekly jam session at Rupert's Brewhouse.
Ryan Demeniuk
This is Ryan’s second year at KHSDI and his first on staff. He is studying under Keith Hall in his junior year as a Jazz Studies major at Western Michigan University. Ryan grew up between Rochester and Sterling Heights, Michigan, and left to pursue music education at the University of Tennessee before transferring to WMU. He currently resides in Kalamazoo, where he is an active member of the music scene, performing as the house drummer for the Barn Theatre, and as a freelance musician and
educator.
Ethan Bouwsma
Ethan is a 19-‐year-‐old from Grand Rapids, MI. He started playing drums in his sophomore year of high school, and has played in the homeschool big bands and jazz
combo. He is now a sophomore at WMU. During his freshman year at WMU he played in the WMU Jazz Lab Band, the WMU Drum Choir, and other smaller student-‐ led ensembles. He has attended KHSDI as a student for the past 3 summers and this is his first year as a coach.
Madison George (Week 1)
Madison George works in the Grand Rapids and Kalamazoo areas. He began playing drums when he was three years old, before he could even reach the pedals. In Middle School he began studying with drummers Randy Marsh and Tim Froncek. Throughout high school he played in church worship band, and school jazz and concert bands. He attends Western Michigan University, majoring in jazz studies, and studies with Keith Hall. He has performed with artists such as Terell Stafford, Deborah Brown, Peter Eldridge, Edward Simon, Max Colley III, Steve Talaga, Chris Lawrence, WMU’s Gold Company, and WMU’s Jazz Orchestra. He can be seen performing with jazz/hip-‐hop/rock band Lush, as well as alternative/rock band Michigander.
Kyle Wheeler (Week 2)
Kyle Wheeler is from Byron Center, Michigan and currently lives in Grandville, MI, but will soon live in Kalamazoo. He has attended the KHSDI for 3 years, and this will be his first year teaching at the summer drum intensive. He went to Byron Center High School where he attended many different high school jazz competitions
including WMU Jazz Festival, CMU Jazz Festival, MSU Jazz Festival, and the Savannah Georgia Swing Central Jazz competition. He was fortunate enough to place very well at these events. He also had the opportunity to meet and play with musicians
including Wes Anderson, Herlin Riley, Ulysses Owens Jr., Justin Faulkner, Wynton Marsalis, Christian Mcbride, Wycliffe Gordon, Rodney Whitaker, Aaron Diehl, Marcus Roberts, Jason Marsalis, Christian Sands, Ali Jackson, and Terrell Stafford, etc. He is currently attending Western Michigan University to receive his Bachelors in Jazz Studies for drum set.
Week 1 Rhythm Section Rufus Ferguson
Rufus Ferguson is a pianist based in Kalamazoo, Michigan. He received his undergraduate degree from Western Michigan University and is currently a jazz piano Graduate Student at Western Michigan University where he studies under Jeremy Siskind. Rufus got his start studying classical piano while also being a gospel church organist. He later began playing jazz piano. During his tenure at WMU, Rufus has studied with Jeremy Siskind, Andrew Rathbun, Fred Hersch, Edward Simon,
Roger Jones and Barry Harris. He has also had the privilege of sharing the stage with world renowned jazz artists such as Terrell Stafford, Deborah Brown, Joe Lovano, Billy Drewes, Randy Brecker and Miguel Zenon. Rufus is a member of Keith Hall’s Homecookin' band, Nashon Holloway and Stereo Garden, and the current Downbeat award winning group for best Graduate jazz quartet in the U.S., The Lasse
Grunewald Quartet. Dan Willenberg
Dan Willenberg is a jazz pianist, composer, bandleader, accompanist and educator currently working in Kalamazoo and surrounding areas. After finishing a bachelor's degree in K-‐12 Instrumental Music Education from Albion College (2011), Dan continued his studies at Western Michigan University for a master's degree in jazz piano (completed in 2014) and is also in pursuit of finishing a performer's diploma from WMU. His primary teachers at WMU include Dr. Steve Zegree, Fred Hersch, Jeremy Siskind, and Edward Simon. Dan currently holds a residency at The Union Cabaret & Grille performing every Monday night with his trio in addition to hosting the weekly jazz jam session at the Union every Wednesday evening. He is also the artist-‐in-‐residence every Friday and Saturday night performing solo piano at Webster's Prime Steakhouse located in the Kalamazoo Radisson, as well as
performing in other locations around southwest Michigan with a number of various musical configurations. He has shared the stage with jazz artists including Miguel Zenon, Randy Brecker, Victor Goines, Peter Eldridge, Jesse Palter, Sara Gazarek, and many others. As an educator, Dan currently teaches piano at Albion College,
Crescendo Academy of Music, Spring Valley Center For Exploration (as part of the Gilmore Education Department), and maintains his own private studio of
classical/jazz piano and composition students. Dan is also an in-‐demand vocal accompanist and has worked with over 60 singers in classical, jazz, and musical theater settings in Kalamazoo. This is Dan's 3rd time working as a rhythm section member for KHSDI, having previously been at the camp in 2012 and 2013.
Sam Weber
Sam Weber is a bassist, composer, arranger, and educator based in Brooklyn, New York. A native of Kalamazoo, Michigan, Sam is an alumnus of Western Michigan University, earning both a BA in Jazz Studies (2010) and an MA in Music (2011). Sam relocated to New York City in 2012, where he currently performs full time, playing everything from jazz, hip hop, and rock to bluegrass and contemporary classical music. Sam is also active as an educator, and has traveled around the US as well as internationally presenting clinics, lectures, and master classes.
John Sutton
John Sutton is a bassist, composer, and educator based in Chicago. His playing and writing reflect his belief in the power of simplicity and humor. John is the cocreator
of the web series Bass Solo: a comedy show about what it means to be a jazz musician in today’s world. John has scored music for a variety of narrative film projects, commercials and web series. As a bassist, he has recently been featured on albums by artists such as Tammy McCann and Laurence Hobgood, Mikel Patrick Avery and Rana Santacruz. You can find his works and upcoming events at www.johnsuttonmusic.com
Caleb Elzinga
Caleb Elzinga is a tenor saxophonist from the greater Grand Rapids area. He recently graduated from Michigan State University with a Bachelor’s Degree in Jazz Studies Performance. He currently teaches part time at Byron Center High School and
Catholic Central High school with their associated Jazz ensembles. He has played in a variety of groups performing Jazz, Rock, Funk, R&B, and Reggae. He will be
continuing own education for a masters degree at Western Michigan University. Nashon Holloway
“Equally at home in jazz, soul and folk music…” –wmuk.org
Where Amy Winehouse meets Corinne Bailey Rae, Nashon is a soulful songstress set to release her first studio album, The Palace & the Hut, September 30th, 2016.
Performance credits include features on The Oprah Winfrey Show with David Foster, Jazz at Lincoln Center, Carnegie Hall, Taste of Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Qatar. In addition to being a recording and performing artist, she teaches private voice to children in the states and visits alternative schools, juvenile homes, churches,
hospitals and hospice in an effort to collaborate with students of all ages on music as healing, communication and artistic therapy. Nashon is a one-‐of-‐a-‐kind
singer/songwriter with an artistic, jazzy style and relevant essence born of authenticity. See her website for more details: www.nashonholloway.com
Week 2 Rhythm Section Matthew Fries
Pianist, Matthew Fries, has been making waves in the jazz world as both a soloist and accompanist. The winner of the Great American Jazz Piano Competition, his debut album, Song for Today (TCB Music) was named a 2001 critics pick by Jazziz Magazine, and his continuing work with his collaborative trio, TRI-‐FI, “takes on the Jazz Trio challenge and delivers a ‘knock out’ punch” (Jazz Review). As a sideman his work has been described as “the best jazz accompaniment I’ve seen in a cabaret in years” (The New York Times), and “the crispest rhythm section imaginable” (The London Times).
Matthew has been playing piano all his life. He was born in the small town of Selinsgrove, Pennsylvania, and grew up in a musical home. His mother was a
classical singer. His father was a professor of piano at Susquehanna University and was Matthew’s first teacher, teaching him piano and music theory. During high school he played trumpet and sang in school choruses, but returned to piano after a college jazz history course awakened his interest in jazz piano. He earned a
Bachelor’s Degree from Ithaca College and went on to earn a Master’s Degree from The University of Tennessee, where he taught undergraduate classes and studied with jazz piano great, Donald Brown.
Matthew now lives and works in New York City. He tours frequently with his
collaborative trio, TRI-‐FI, and with singer, Curtis Stigers, as a regular member of his band. He continues to perform with a diverse lineup of artists that has included Stacey Kent, Ann Hampton Callaway, DeeDee Bridgewater, Vincent Herring, Steve Wilson, Dave Samuels, Claudio Roditi, Terell Stafford, and many others.
Rob Clearfield
Rob Clearfield grew up steeped in music. His mother is a professional musician— music teacher, church music director—and so the idea of making a living with one’s instrument was always second nature in the Clearfield household. By the time he was three years old, Clearfield knew Paul Simon’s Graceland backwards and
forwards. By five, he’d started taking piano lessons, spurred in part by a competitive streak against his piano-‐playing older sister. But if he had to identify the moment he became a musician—if something like that can ever be identified—it was age 13, when a broken-‐down, nylon-‐string guitar materialized at his house.
From 2004-‐2011, his band Information Superhighway played Clearfield’s original compositions and released two albums; he also continued to play with the Fareed Haque group, talked his way onto Grazyna Auguscik’s band and began to tour internationally with her, played with an impressive roster of Chicago’s finest musicians (a quick partial list: Matt Ulery, Marquis Hill, Makaya McCraven, Greg Ward, Howard Levy, Patricia Barber, Chris Siebold, Melvin Butler, Ernest Dawkins); played with prog-‐rock band District 97 from 2006 to 2015, which involved
collaborations with John Wetton (King Crimson, Asia); and was a founding member of the R&B/soul group Hood Smoke as well as the folk/rock group Outertown (to this day, he continues to work with both groups).
During his decade-‐plus on the scene, Clearfield has developed a reputation for lyrical, emotive compositions that contain the kernel of an oxymoron: an sound that is somehow both sad and redemptively positive. For inspiration, he turns to gospel music, Brahms, blues, Radiohead, Johnny Greenwood’s non-‐Radiohead work, and modern jazz artists like Kneebody, Marilyn Crispell, Ben Monder, and Kurt
Rosenwinkel—but also to other art forms, like the films of Ingmar Bergman and Krzysztof Kieslowski, work that embodies the sad/redemptive dichotomy he loves. In addition to performing and composing, Clearfield has received grants to compose for churches (Grace Commons), stage productions (Purdue North Central
focused on his first trio release—Islands, coming out on ears&eyes Records spring 2016.
Matt Hughes
I’m thrilled be here at the KDHI for the 5th consecutive year and I look forward to working with all of you this summer. I’m actually from Kalamazoo and started my performance career in 1983 when I passed the audition for my first job with the Battle Creek Symphony Orchestra. I later joined the Orchestras in Kalamazoo and Lansing, earned an undergraduate degree in music from Michigan State University, and a Masters degree from Western Michigan University. It was at WMU that I first met Keith Hall when we were both members of the WMU big band. We later formed a group called the Groov’tet, won some awards, moved to New York City, and have enjoyed a great relationship on and off the bandstand ever since. I spent about 17 years working in New York playing jazz (mostly) with some famous (and many more not-‐so-‐famous) musicians including the Glenn Miller Orchestra, the Tommy Dorsey Orchestra, Cab Calloway, Betty Carter Quartet, and have spent several summers, performing nightly, at the Grand Hotel on Mackinac Island Michigan. For the past 5 years I have been the instructor of double bass at Western Illinois
University in Macomb Illinois where I remain active as a performer of jazz and classical chamber music. Currently I am finishing a Doctor of Musical Arts degree at the University of Illinois. You can catch me this late this summer, up and down the shores of lake Michigan, as I join with drummer Rudy Petschauer for a series of concerts from August 16th-‐21st.
George Delancey
Bassist George Delancey is a native of Cambridge, OH, and a student of such
prestigious programs as the Columbus Youth Jazz Orchestra and the Michigan State University Jazz Studies Program, where he studied under Rodney Whitaker. He has worked with notable bandleaders Johnny O’Neal, Wessell Anderson, Willie Jones III, Philip and Winard Harper, Christian Howes, Tia Fuller, Bria Skonberg, as well as many others in New York and throughout the Midwest. He is active nationally as a bandleader and educator, and has worked with programs including Jazz at Lincoln Center’s Jazz for Young People and Christian Howes’ Creative Strings Workshop. He is also the director of the Midwestern arts initiative Appalachian Muse.
Andrew Rathbun
Andrew Rathbun, Toronto-‐born saxophonist and composer, is at the forefront of a new generation of jazz innovators. There is a poetic and multi-‐dimensional quality to Andrew's music, which saxophonist Joe Lovano has praised for its "warmth and beauty," while Nate Chinen (JazzTimes, NY Times) has called his work “a sucessive series of revelations.” The Penguin Guide to Jazz describes Rathbun as "a rising star."
Andrew has documented his individual sound on a series of 14 acclaimed recordings, on the Challenge, Fresh Sound and Steeplechase labels, and has collaborated with musicians like Kenny Wheeler, Billy Hart, Ben Monder, Bill Stewart, Jay Anderson, and Luciana Souza, to name just a few. He has received grants from the American Music Center, Canada Council for the Arts and the
Chalmers Fund, and has been a fellow at the MacDowell Colony, the Atlantic Center for the Arts and the Banff Center.
Andrew has also written a variety of chamber and orchestral pieces, as well as works for the Danish Radio Jazz Orchestra, the Dave Liebman Big Band, the Fresh Sound New Talent Jazz Orchestra, the Metropole Orchestra, and the Brussels Jazz Orchestra, and received commissions from the Composer’s Project, and the Utah Valley University faculty chamber ensemble. He recently appeared at the Gilmore International piano festival, interpreting the works of Debussy. He joined the faculty of Western Michigan University in 2012 after over 15 years in New York.
Nashon Holloway
“Equally at home in jazz, soul and folk music…” –wmuk.org
Where Amy Winehouse meets Corinne Bailey Rae, Nashon is a soulful songstress set to release her first studio album, The Palace & the Hut, September 30th, 2016.
Performance credits include features on The Oprah Winfrey Show with David Foster, Jazz at Lincoln Center, Carnegie Hall, Taste of Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Qatar. In addition to being a recording and performing artist, she teaches private voice to children in the states and visits alternative schools, juvenile homes, churches,
hospitals and hospice in an effort to collaborate with students of all ages on music as healing, communication and artistic therapy. Nashon is a one-‐of-‐a-‐kind
singer/songwriter with an artistic, jazzy style and relevant essence born of authenticity. See her website for more details: www.nashonholloway.com