Curriculum Vitae

EDUCATION:

1986                     Ph.D.     Musicology                                University of Memphis

1980                     M.M.     Composition                             University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music

1978                      B.M.       Composition                            University of Memphis

Dissertation:  Southern Ragtime and Its Transition to Published Blues, 1986.

PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE:

2017 to Present: Owner of DDJ Music Services (www.DLJMusicServices.com)

• Freelance Music Services

  • Music performance and recording studio work (piano, voice)

  • Commissioned composition and arranging

  • Public lectures and lecture/performances

  • Adjudication and clinics for schools and jazz festivals

  • College constituent faculty class and private studio teaching

  • Freelance private music instruction

2000 to 2018: Pacific Lutheran University, Tacoma, Washington

• (Sabbatical Leave for Academic Year 2017-18, followed by retirement)

• Tenured 2003; Promoted to Full Professor: 2008

• Professor and Director of Jazz Studies

• Directing jazz big band ensembles, supervise jazz combos

• Private studio jazz piano, jazz voice, jazz composition and arranging

• Teaching jazz theory and improvisation for all music majors

• Teaching jazz history to general university students

• Artistic Director and performer for Jazz Under the Stars concert series

1986-2000: University of North Texas (Tenured: 1992, Full Professor: 2000)

• Professor of Jazz Studies since 1986.

• Founded and developed a jazz and popular music survey for course for freshmen jazz studies majors and non-music majors, jazz history for upper-division undergraduate jazz majors, and a graduate seminar in jazz history and jazz history pedagogy (all courses required for jazz studies majors)

• Assumption and redesign of a graduate jazz analysis class since 1997

• Founder and Director of U.N.T. Jazz Repertory Ensemble since 1987

•  (CD Rockin’ In Rhythm released in March, 1999, CD Dallas Doings recorded May, 1999)

• Taught Jazz Vocal Techniques to Jazz Vocal concentration students.

• Co-director (with Dan Haerle) of the U.N.T. MIDI synthesizer laboratory, including instruction on Mark of the Unicorn Performer® sequencing software and MakeMusic’s Finale® music notation software since 1987.

• Director of the Zebras, the U.N.T. synthesizer ensemble 1990-1993

• Founder of the U.N.T. Latin Jazz Ensemble, 1999

• 1982-1986: Media General Broadcast Services, Inc., Memphis, Tennessee

• Full-time, salaried staff vocalist for a Fortune 500 media company that (at the time) produced 70% of the English-speaking radio and television jingles in the world.

• Contract studio pianist recording instrumental tracks for the jingles.

1976-1978, 1980-1986: University of Memphis

• Instructor from 1980-1986.  Reorganized and developed the jazz history course, teaching on the graduate and undergraduate level (required course for jazz and commercial music majors).

• Taught jazz piano, class jazz piano, jazz band (1976-78, 1980-85).

• 1984: Rhodes College, Memphis

•  Adjunct Faculty Pep Band Director.

1978-1980: University of Cincinnati, College-Conservatory of Music

• Graduate Assistant and Adjunct Faculty: Founded and developed jazz history course, teaching on the graduate and undergraduate level, 1979 (required course for jazz majors).

• Wrote an annotated bibliography of jazz study materials in the CCM library used by the musicology department in their bibliography course– required by all graduate students in music.

2008-2012: Lead instructor for the Great Basin Jazz Camp, a one-week camp held each July at the College of Southern Idaho in Twin Falls.

Clinician at the Experience Music Project’s “Jazz In January”  annual educational series (Seattle, Washington).

TOURED: Alabama, Mississippi, Georgia, and Ohio, and Texas as Jazz Clinician.

Adjudicated Jazz Festivals in Missouri, Oklahoma, Tennessee, and Texas. 

Since moving to Washington state in 2000, Adjudicated at the following local, regional, and national festivals: 

Viking Jazz Festival (Poulsbo, WA), Bellevue High School Jazz Festival (Bellevue, WA), Auburn Jazz Festival (Auburn, WA), Valley League Jazz Festival (Federal Way, WA), Pierce College Jazz Festival (Lakewood, WA), Wilson High School Jazz Festival (Tacoma, WA), Frontier Junior High School Jazz Festival (Graham, WA), Chinook Junior High Jazz Festival (Lacey, WA), Issaquah High School Jazz Festival (Issaquah, WA), University of New Mexico Jazz Festival (Albuquerque, NM), Reno Jazz Festival (Reno, NV), Capital City Jazz Festival (Olympia, WA), Coos Bay Jazz Festival (Coos Bay, OR), Lionel Hampton Jazz Festival (University of Idaho, Moscow), Gene Harris Jazz Festival (Boise State University (Idaho), University of Missouri-St. Louis (2018).

Resident Faculty (Clinician and Performer) at the UNT Jazz Combo Workshop, 1993 to 1999, UNT Jazz Trumpet Workshop and UNT Jazz Vocal Camp, 1998-2001.

Directed Region IV Texas U.I.L. Jazz Band, 1998

Directed the All-West Tennessee High School Jazz Band in 1982 and 1983.

TOURED: California (1977) and Missouri (1978) as Jazz Piano Clinician with Jim Widner Clinicians, working with Tim Hagans, John von Ohlen, and others.

AREAS OF EXPERTISE:

Jazz History and Scholarship, Popular Music History and Scholarship, African-American Music History and Scholarship, Southern Regional Music, Country Music, Jazz Piano Performance, Jazz and Pop Vocal Performance, Composition, Arranging, Jazz Band Conducting, Jazz Combo and Jazz Vocal Group Coaching, MIDI Technology, Computer and Music Applications, Recording Studio Production and Performance, Thesis and Dissertation Advising, Freshman and Transfer Student Advising, College Committee Administration in matters of Promotion & Tenure, Curricula, Governance

PROFESSIONAL ORGANIZATION MEMBERSHIPS:

American Federation of Musicians, College Music Society, Society for American Music, International Association for the Study of Popular Music, International Association for Jazz Education, Jazz Education Network

UNIVERSITY COMMITTEES AND COUNCILS:

2013-2016 PLU Rank and Tenure Committee

2012                 KPLU General Manager Search Committee

• Choral Director Search Committee

2006-2009        PLU Instructional Resources Committee

2005-2006        Music Education Faculty Search Committee

2004-2005        Wind Ensemble Director Search Committee

2002-2003        PLU Student Life Committee

2000-Pres.       Music Performance and Outreach Committee

2001-2007         Music Scholarship Committee

2000-2001        Music Jury Committee

1999-2000        Faculty Advisory Committee (replaces Executive Comm. below)

1997-1998         Teaching With Technology Grant Committee

1993-1997         College of Music PAC/PTC*, Chair 1996-1997

1994-1997          Faculty Advisor for the UNT Macintosh Users Group

1989-1991          Faculty Senate

1989-1991         Instructional Budget Subcommittee

1989-1991         Faculty Participation in Governance Subcommittee

1990-1992        College of Music Executive Committee

1986-2000       University Graduate Council

1986-2000       Jazz Studies Masters Degree Committee

• Personnel Affairs Committee, Promotion and Tenure Committee

DESCRIPTION OF COURSES TAUGHT:

Introduction to Jazz Recordings (UNT): A survey course for freshman jazz majors to introduce the major figures of jazz and develop essential discographical knowledge of jazz artists.  The first half of the semester is an overview of jazz history with an emphasis on listening skills and identification of personal and historical styles.  The second half employs computer-based presentation of significant historical figures in jazz, organized by instrument and style or style period.  (I authored this software using Hypercard® for the Macintosh.  From 1999 I utilized Microsoft Powerpoint®) The student compiles a list of vital data and discography, researches additional musicians on each instrument on their own, and continues to have listening skills tests to recognize artists on those instruments.  Text Used: James McCalla, Listening to Jazz (Prentice-Hall)

History of Jazz (UNT): This course is designed for upper-level jazz and music majors and is more analytical in nature.  The basis for this course is a 230-page anthology compiled and rendered using Finale® notation software.  Forty pieces are studied to identify personal and historical stylistic traits and to observe effective devices in the compositions and improvisations of the artists.  Text Used: Lewis Porter, Jazz: From Its Origins to the Present (Prentice-Hall)

Studies in Jazz History (UNT): A course for graduate jazz majors, though a few graduate students in music education or musicology are admitted.  Averaging fifteen students, this course dispenses with a chronological survey and emphasizes historiography, research methodology, research resources, pedagogical tools and techniques, and oral and written presentation of research projects.  Three or four topics are exhaustively studied for the semester (i.e., Charles Mingus, Miles Davis, Ornette Coleman, Benny Carter, Lennie Tristano, Duke Ellington).  The primary goal for this course is to prepare the burgeoning college teacher with research and teaching experience.

Jazz Styles and Analysis (UNT): A course for graduate jazz majors.  This course surveys and applies analytical techniques to transcribed improvised solos.  After introduction of techniques and illustrative analysis by the instructor, the students transcribe improvised solos by major artists from recordings, analyze them according to suggested techniques, and make three oral presentations in class.

Computer Sequencing and Computer Notation (UNT): These two courses are taught in a multi-station computer lab.  The emphasis is on Mark of the Unicorn’s Performer® sequencing software for the Apple Macintosh and MakeMusic’s Finale® notation software, taught for both PC and Mac platforms.  The latter is required for all arranging concentrations in the jazz program and will soon fulfill the computer literacy requirement in the university’s core curriculum.

Jazz Repertory Ensemble (UNT): This ensemble could also be considered “applied jazz history.”  The group is a learning and performing group dedicated to the collection, study, preservation, and recreation of classic music from the entire history of jazz.  The ensemble ranges in number from fifteen to twenty students.  The group is committed to playing only authentic compositions and arrangements or recreations of classic recorded performances by such jazz legends as Fletcher Henderson, Count Basie, Duke Ellington, Benny Goodman, Mary Lou Williams, Woody Herman, Gil Evans, and Charles Mingus.  There are approximately three hundred pieces in its library, ranging from small combo charts to big band works. This group has recently come out of the classroom to educate and entertain audiences throughout Texas and has recorded two compact discs.

University Jazz Ensemble (PLU):  This ensemble is a jazz “big band” ensemble performing a wide range of jazz ensemble repertoire from present-day compositions and arrangements to classic jazz dating back to the 1920s.  The group offers student jazz musicians experience playing in a large ensemble situation, requiring skills in sight reading, group performance, and stylistic range, as well as individual improvisational skills.  This group is one of several large ensemble experiences at the university and one of the performing groups representing the university at on-campus and off-campus concerts as well as collegiate level festivals and competitions. Tours to Scandinavia, China, Australia, Spain, and Portugal.

Jazz Combo (PLU): The jazz big band is but one performance experience in jazz.  The vast majority of the music created and performed in jazz has been in a small group, or combo, setting.  This is a small ensemble comprised of any combination of instruments, numbering two to five or six.  This setting deemphasizes the written arrangement in favor of spontaneous musical interaction and individual improvisation, the hallmark of the jazz endeavor.  The real virtue of this setting is that it is not instrumentation specific and allows the maximum number of students to participate in a jazz performance experience.  The classroom setting rotates between in-class performances by each combo, public critique and coaching by the instructor to the entire class, and advanced improvisation and jazz theory instruction beyond the jazz theory class content listed for the Jazz Theory class below.

Jazz Theory (PLU): This course is required of all music majors at PLU.  The primary mandate of this class, as given by the music school accreditation organization, The National Association of Schools of Music, is to give a music improvisational experience to each music student.  Since the idiom of jazz is primarily involved with improvisation, it is the vehicle chosen to give music students of all backgrounds this experience.  Students learn basic theoretical concepts of jazz, including jazz chord symbol nomenclature and chord spelling, chord-scale relationships, concepts of jazz rhythm and phrasing, jazz piano voicings, proper voice leading in harmonic progressions and melody lines, and aspects of improvisational behavior.  The course also includes experience with transcription and recreation of classic improvised jazz solos from recordings.

Jazz History and Appreciation (for non-music majors) (PLU): This is a general university course offered as a fine arts elective.  The goal of this course begins by introducing basic concepts of music such as instruments used in jazz, melody, rhythm, and harmony.  The course then surveys the history and styles of jazz over the approximately one hundred years of its development.  The presentation is rich in media, including Powerpoint outlines, audio recordings of classic jazz performances, integrated portions of the Ken Burns PBS documentary Jazz, and live performances in the classroom by the instructor and guest artists. Text Used: Experiencing Jazz (McGraw-Hill)

Analyzing Music (PLU): This course is required of all music majors at PLU.  This course is a survey of a collection of music of varied style periods and genres.  I taught this course one semester.  My unique approach was to look at different musical parameters (form, meter, rhythm, etc.) across a broad range of music, from Beethoven to Dave Matthews.  I was not as interested in developing formal analytical techniques per se, but to use the overriding goal “What is going on in the music that makes me like it?”

GRANTS:

1997: Faculty Development Leave from UNT for development of Thornhill research.

1996: Research Initiation Grant from UNT to gather data on the Gil Evans and Gerry Mulligan arrangements for the Claude Thornhill Orchestra.

1994: Instructional Development Grant from UNT to develop Macintosh Hypercard software for classroom instruction in music.

1988: UNT Junior Faculty Research Grant Program to conduct further research in southern ragtime during the summer of 1988.

HIGHLIGHTS OF PUBLICATIONS AND SCHOLARLY WORK (*=refereed)

Deacon-Joyner, David and Chris Gardner. Completed manuscript (2020) for a book biography of pioneering rock ‘n’ roll musician Bill Haley, commissioned by the Estate of Bill Haley. Currently seeking publication.

Deacon-Joyner, David. Library of Congress National Recording Registry. Essay accompanying the inclusion of Bill Haley and the Comets’ 1954 recording of “(We’re Gonna) Rock Around the Clock,” 2017.

*Joyner, David. Entry on jazz pianist Thomas “Fats” Waller in the Dictionary of African-American National Biography (New York: Oxford University Press, 2004).  (The African American National Biography is a joint project of the W. E. B. Du Bois Institute for Afro-American Research at Harvard University and Oxford University Press. The first publication of the project will be a single-volume trade edition to appear in 2004, containing about 600 biographies of notable African Americans. The next stage of the project will be an eight-volume edition containing upwards of 5,000 biographies, including those from the trade edition.)

Joyner, David Lee.  American Popular Music, 3rd edition. (New York: McGraw-Hill) published July, 2008.

Joyner, David. “A Guide to Jazz In Olympia, Part I,” Jazz Steps Vol. 2, Issue 7, November, 2002, pp. 1, 5.

Joyner, David. “A Guide to Jazz In Olympia, Part II,” Jazz Steps Vol. 2, Issue 8, December, 2002, p. 5.

Joyner, David Lee.  American Popular Music, 2nd edition. (New York: McGraw-Hill, 2002), 270 pages.

Joyner, David. “Building on Jazz Traditions,” Music Notes, Fall 2000, pp. 1-2.

*Joyner, David. Bibliographic Essay “Jazz Since 1960.”  Reader’s Guide to Music (London: Fortney Press, 1999).

*Joyner, David.  “Jazz from 1930-1960.” Cambridge History of American Music, (Cambridge, England: Cambridge University Press, England, 1999), pp. 418-447.

*Joyner, David. “Analyzing Third Stream Jazz.” The Contemporary Music Review, ed. John Covach.  Publication date: 1999.

Joyner, David. “Louis Armstrong: The Great Communicator.” Jazz Player (Medfield, MA: Dorn Publications) Vol. 2, No. 6, June 1998, pp. 24-27.

Joyner, David. “A Belated Jazz Valentine.” Jazz Player (Medfield, MA: Dorn Publications) Vol. 3, No. 3, June/July 1996, pp. 33-35.

Joyner, David. “Jazz Composers in Jazz History.” Jazz Player (Medfield, MA: Dorn Publications) Vol. 2, No. 2, February/March 1996, pp. 12-15.

Joyner, David. “Reflections on Jazz Education: The Sequel.”  Jazz Player (Medfield, MA: Dorn Publications) Vol. 4, No. 6, October/November 1995, pp. 23-26.

Joyner, David. “Reflections on Jazz Education.” Jazz Player (Medfield, MA: Dorn Publications) Vol. 1, No. 3, May/June 1995, pp. 24-27.

*Joyner, David. Entry on Mary Ford (Les Paul and Mary Ford) in the Dictionary of American Biography Supplement Ten: 1976-1980 (New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1995), pp. 251-252.

Joyner, David Lee.  American Popular Music (New York: McGraw-Hill, 1993), 215 pages.

*Joyner, David Lee. Entry on Henry Hayes (Homer and Jethro) for the Dictionary of American Biography (New York: Scribners, 1993).

*Joyner, David.  “The Ragtime Controversy.” America’s Musical Pulse ed. Kenneth Bindas (New York: Greenwood Press, 1992), pp. 239-248.

Book and record reviews for publications such as Notes, American Music, Sonneck Society Bulletin.

Manuscript reviews for publishers such as Oxford, Prentice-Hall, McGraw-Hill.

The Thornhill Project

Throughout the 1990s, I was one of the first jazz scholars to begin aggressive research gathering and editing the historic jazz big band arrangements by Gil Evans and Gerry Mulligan for the Claude Thornhill Orchestra, written between the years 1946-1951.  After gathering the manuscript scores from Drury College in Springfield, Missouri, I was granted a sabbatical in the fall semester of 1997 for the first phase of editing.  A proposal was submitted for publication in the series M.U.S.A. (Music of the United States of America), published by A-R Editions and sponsored by the American Musicological Society and the National Endowment For the Humanities.  This project was initiated by the personal request of the series editor-in chief, Richard Crawford.  Ultimately, copyright restrictions of the music prevented publication in this form.  However, the groundwork I did led to collaboration with and contributions to the authors of the following landmark research works on Thornhill, Evans, and Mulligan, and international performances and recordings of their work.  I was cited in the forewords and acknowledgements of these efforts:

Sultanof, Jeff, editor. The Complete Birth of the Cool. (New York: Hal Leonard Publications, 2002). [This is the first complete and authoritative collection of the musical scores from Miles Davis’ landmark 1949-50 nonet recording on Capitol Records, The Birth of the Cool.  Sultanof acknowledges my contribution in the introduction.]

Crease, Stephanie Stein. Gil Evans: Out of the Cool, His Life and Music. (New York: A Capella Books, 2001) [This is the first extensive biography of Gil Evans.  Ms. Crease consulted with me on several occasions concerning Evans’ music and career with the Claude Thornill Orchestra.  I am cited in the acknowledgements of the book.]

Dutch Jazz Orchestra.  I contributed editions and manuscripts of the Evans and Mulligan scores to Dr. Walter Van de Leur, Artistic Director of the Dutch Jazz Orchestra.  Subsequently, this has led to world premieres of some of the music at the North Sea Jazz Festival in The Hague, recording of the music in the fall of 2003, sponsored by Challenge Records and Radio Netherlands International.

eJazzlines.com. In 2009, the New York-based jazz big band music publisher eJazzlines embarked on publishing the Evans and Mulligan arrangements. I saw the few titles they had, edited by Jeff Sultanof (see above) and realized that I had furnished him with the manuscripts. I called the Duboff brothers, owners of the company, and established a collaboration to furnish them with additional manuscripts. Finally, I had a resource to obtain legal clearance to publish neatly engraved and edited scores for performance.

Pony Boy All-Star Orchestra. In the 2010-2011 academic year, I took a one-year sabbatical leave from PLU.  One of my projects was to lead the Northwest premier of the Evans and Mulligan pieces. I collaborated with Greg Williamson, Seattle drummer and head of Pony Boy Records, a Seattle jazz label.  Williamson also leads the Pony Boy All-Star Orchestra, comprised of some of the finest jazz musicians in Seattle and an orchestra that often programs “theme” concerts with a historical slant. We presented a live concert on December 9, 2010 at the Seattle Museum of Art, later broadcast on Jim Wilke’s Jazz Northwest radio program on KPLU 88.5 FM, a showcase of Northwest jazz on western Washington’s largest public radio station.

CONCERTS, PAPERS, AND LECTURES:

(Ongoing) Public lecture/performances on topics of popular music, most often at retirement communities, including biographical profiles of “Great American Songbook” composers, music from the Harlem Renaissance, and women blues singers from the 1920s.

Lecture (w/Dr. John Covach, University of Rochester) on blues at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, 9/22/00.  This is part of the RRHOF educational outreach to high school students in the Cleveland area.  Dr. Covach and I lectured on the history, culture, and music of the blues and performed with blues legends from the area and with the students.

Concert of Duke Ellington music with the University of North Texas Jazz Repertory Ensemble commemorating the centennial of Ellington’s birth, presented to the Society For American Music, March, 1999.

Participated in a panel discussion on teaching popular music for the Popular Music Special Interest Group of the Sonneck Society for American Music National Conference in Kansas City, Missouri, February 1998.

Presented a paper, “‘Kitten on the Keys” and “Handful of Keys’”: Linking Harlem Stride and Novelty Ragtime Piano Styles”, presented at the National Conference of the Society for Ethnomusicology, October 23, 1997

Conducted a program of jazz repertory music with the two jazz ensembles of the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music, March 9, 1997.

Co-presented a paper with Dr. Rosemary Killam, “I’m In Love Again: From Counterpoint Exercise to the Broadway Theater,” at a conference entitled “Popular Music and the Canon: Old Boundaries Reconsidered,” sponsored by the Eastman School of Music and held there in Rochester, NY, October 1996.

Conducted a concert of Claude Thornhill music with the UNT Jazz Repertory Ensemble at Kenton Hall, UNT.  October 14, 1996.

Presented a paper, “Reconstructing the Legacy of Claude Thornhill” for the Texas Music Library Association at the Willis Library, UNT, October 17, 1996.

Guest conductor and lecturer of a concert of music by bandleaders Woody Herman and Stan Kenton at Louisiana State University, April 10-13, 1996.

Presented a paper, “The Gil Evans and Gerry Mulligan Arrangements for the Claude Thornhill Orchestra: An Examination of Recently Discovered Manuscripts” at the 22nd Annual National Conference of the Sonneck Society for American Music, March 23, 1996, Washington, D.C.

Lecture concert of jazz repertory with the UNT One O’Clock Lab Band in Lisbon, Portugal, November 25-29, 1993.

Performances and lectures for a series entitled “The Jazz Experience,” held at the North Carolina Center for the Advancement of Teaching in Cullowhee, North Carolina, October 11-15, 1993.

Directed the Ragtime Legacy Orchestra in a concert for the Sammons Jazz Series Spring Gala concert, featuring the Texas premiere of James P. Johnson’s “Yamekraw” for piano and orchestra, Dallas, Texas, June 27, 1990.

Directed the UNT One’O Clock Lab Band in a concert of jazz repertory music given at the Teatro de la Ciudad, sponsored by the Universidad Regiomontana, Monterrey, Mexico, April 6, 1990.

Directed the UNT One O’Clock Lab Band in a concert/lecture “Playing the History of Jazz,” given at the Texas Music Educators Association Conference, San Antonio, Texas, February 8, 1990.

Guest lecturer in a series on southern ragtime, presented to the “Wednesdays at Two” advanced student program at Mississippi State University, January 1990.

Presented a paper, “The French Connection: The Jesse French Piano Company’s Impact on the Development of Mississippi Valley Ragtime,” at the Scott Joplin Ragtime Festival in Sedalia, Missouri, June 9, 1990, at the national conference of the College Music Society, St. Louis, Missouri, October 1989 and at the national conference of the Sonneck Society for American Music in Toronto, Ontario, November 1989.

Presented a paper, “Southern Ragtime: A Study in Regional Style,” at the national conference of the International Association for the Study of Popular Music, Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut, October 1987, and at the national conference of the International Association of Jazz Educators in San Diego, California, January 1989.

Presented a paper, “The Influence of Scott Joplin on Southern Ragtime Composers” at the Scott Joplin Ragtime Festival, Sedalia, Missouri, June 3, 1988.  This conference also included my participation in a plenary session on the relationship between the collector and the scholar in ragtime research.

Numerous “public lectures” at retirement communities and retreat centers in the region, including Panorama City (Lacey, WA) and The Bellatini (Bellevue, WA)

PROFESSIONAL MUSICIAN EXPERIENCE:

Numerous free-lance engagements and studio work as pianist and vocalist in the Puget Sound region, Dallas/Fort Worth Metroplex, Cincinnati, and Memphis.

Highlights include:

Vocal and instrumental work for JAM Productions and Axcess, two of the nation’s leading producers of radio and television jingles.

Vocal, instrumental, and writing for Media General Broadcast Services, a jingle production company that, until its sellout to Dallas’ TM Productions, produced 70% of the English-speaking jingles in the world.

Vocalist for Century 21 and Lunar Productions, producers of industrial multi-media shows for sales conferences and corporate award shows.

Performances with the Tacoma Symphony Orchestra, Memphis Symphony Orchestra, Jackson (Tennessee) Symphony Orchestra, Richardson (Texas) Symphony Orchestra, Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra, Des Moines (Iowa) Symphony Orchestra, Midland/Odessa (Texas) Symphony Orchestra, Dallas Symphony Orchestra, and Brazos Valley Symphony Orchestra (Texas) as pianist, arranger, and featured vocalist.  Arranger, pianist, and vocalist for In Full Swing, a jazz/pop vocal group specializing in appearances with symphony pops orchestras.  The group also has a holiday music counterpart, The Living Christmas Card.  Repertoire includes 17-minute arrangements of medleys of Christmas music and music associated with Burt Bacharach, Stevie Wonder, Frank Sinatra, Nat “King” Cole, Count Basie, Duke Ellington, Glenn Miller’s Modernaires, and George Gershwin.  Performance as pianist with the Metropolitan Winds (Dallas, TX) and Yakima (Washington) Symphony Orchestra.

Headliner show performances as keyboardist for such names as Danny Thomas, Lola Falana, Wayne Newton, Rich Little, Bob Hope, Henry Mancini, Brook Benton, Mark O’Connor, Steve Allen, Bob Newhart, and the KPLU (now KNKX) radio play “Jimmy Jazzoid Rides Again,” performed at Benaroya Hall in Seattle, WA.

Jazz performances with John Faddis, Marc Johnson, Ed Thigpin, Clark Terry, Marvin Stamm, Bobby Shew, Jim Snidero, Steve Turre, and others. 

Jazz performances with Puget Sound region artists Jay Thomas, Greta Matassa, Doug Miller, Don Lanphere, Mark Taylor, Steve Korn, Clipper Anderson, and others.

List of Compositions and Arrangements for various ensembles through the years:

High School:

Numerous arrangements for marching band, beauty pageant production numbers for big band and voices (Miss Memphis, Miss Tennessee)

“Song for Jean,” “Walnut Ketchup,” “Twenty Dogs on the Roof,” original compositions recorded on annual albums by the jazz band.

College:

A number of compositions for various ensembles, including “In Watermelon Sugar,” runner-up for the Smit Composition Award at University of Memphis, 1976, and “Volition” for wind ensemble, performed by the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music Wind Ensemble, 1979.

“Concerto for Jazz Band,” masters thesis piece, 1980.

University of North Texas:

Herbie Hancock’s “Tell Me a Bedtime Story,” recorded by the UNT Jazz Singers on their 1987 CD High Wire.

Compositions “PCP” and “Z-Funk” and arrangements of “Blue Montreux,” “That’s Enough for Me,” and several pop and fusion pieces for the Zebras synthesizer ensemble, 1990-1993.  Adaption of Conrad Susa’s “A Christmas Garland” for the Zebras to perform with the Turtle Creek Chorale, December 1995. 

Washington state since 2000:

Arrangements for six of the twelve tracks for the Osmond/Chapman big band CD There’s More Where That Came From, distributed by SONY Records, 2020.

Commissioned work, “Unto Us,” a 20-minute Christmas cantata for the Pacific Lutheran University Choir of the West, Chorale, and University Symphony Orchestra, 2012. It was performed in six concerts that December, including in Portland and at Benaroya Hall in Seattle. A CD was also produced.

Arrangements of popular Christmas songs for the PLU University Jazz Ensemble, Vocal Jazz Ensemble, and Seattle vocalist Greta Matassa for the KPLU Holiday Jazz Jam live broadcast, December, 2000-Present. Additional arrangements for the Carole King revue Tapestry and arrangements for the swing-era musical revue Stardust Serenade for Harlequin Productions (Olympia), 2002-2006.

Arrangements of original compositions by Jeff Coffin, saxophonist with Bela Fleck and the Flecktones and the Dave Matthews Band.  Jeff also leads his own group, the Jeff Coffin Mu’tet.  The arrangements are published by the University of Northern Colorado Press and are played by jazz ensembles all over the country.

Commissioned work, “Blueness to Brightness,” for jazz quintet and wind ensemble, premiered by Randol Bass and the Metropolitan Winds at the Meyerson Symphony Hall in Dallas, Texas in May, 2009. Subsequent performances in Beijing and Shanghai, China by the Pacific Lutheran University wind ensemble (2009) and the Utah State wind ensemble (2010).

Music producer of a music video, “Pierce County Sings,” for the Tacoma Community Foundation, premiered before 15,000 people at the Tacoma Dome for the Be the Spark event that featured South African Archbishop Desmond Tutu (May 13, 2011).

Commissioned big band arrangements for Caleb Chapman, current president (2017) of the Jazz Education Network and director of Soundhouse, and internationally recognized jazz and popular music music school in the Salt Lake City, UT area.

Commissioned big band arrangements for Grace Kelly, an award-winning jazz saxophonist who, among other things, is featured in the Amazon Prime series Bosch.

Commissioned big band arrangement (and guest lecturer) for the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music jazz ensemble.

MISCELLANEOUS DISTINCTIONS AND ACTIVITIES:

2017 to 2020:     Member of the Board of Directors for Pacific Public Media, which includes KNKX (formerly KPLU) and its regional translator frequencies and jazz web stream Jazz 24. KNKX is one of the top public radio markets in the U.S. and Jazz 24 is the top jazz music stream in the world.

2013-Present:      “Red badge” staff volunteer at the Washington Corrections Center in Shelton where I teach a music class to inmates and assist in Saturday evening worship services for the Living Stones Prison Congregation of the Southwest Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of America.

Member of an external revue team for the jazz masters degree program at Portland State University’s Music Department, June, 2007.

Keyboardist and vocalist for Celebration Team, Lutheran Church of the Good Shepherd, Olympia, WA, 2000-2006.

Keyboardist for Hope Lutheran Church, Lake Dallas, Texas, 1992-2000.

Served various search committees for ethnomusicology positions at UNT.

Participant in a Mentor for Minority Students program initiated by the Institute for Studies In American Music (Brooklyn College) and the Center for Black Music Research (Columbia College, Chicago).

Planning committee for the 50th anniversary of the UNT jazz degree, 1997.

Editions of Gil Evans, Gerry Mulligan, and Charles Mingus works for performance by the Jazz Repertory Ensemble.

Reviews of books and recordings for American Music, Texas Books in Review, The Sonneck Society Bulletin, and Notes.

Evaluation of manuscripts for W. C. Brown (McGraw-Hill), Prentice-Hall, Ardsley House, and a number of other book publishers.

Thesis and dissertation advising, recital and orals committees

Lectures to student ethnic and religious groups on UNT campus

Freshman and transfer student orientation and advising

Numerous faculty jazz piano and vocal recitals at UNT

Chaired the session “Black and White” at the Sonneck Society National Conference in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, February 15, 1992

Host of the conference of the International Association for the Study of Popular Music at the University of North Texas, October 1-4, 1992

Lectures on jazz for Elderhostel sessions and Academic Decathalon programs in Dallas/Fort Worth area high schools

Peer evaluations for Promotion and/or tenure for a number of colleagues throughout the country

Gamma Iota Chapter of Pi Kappa Lambda, 1982

Biographical Inclusion in The Directory of Distinguished Americans, 1985