Faculty, Guest Artists, Staff
FACULTY
Stephen Anderson – Director, piano, theory/improv, combos
Rahsaan Barber – saxophone, combos, improv
Al Strong – trumpet
Kate McGarry – vocal jazz
Gregg Gelb – saxophones, combos
Roland Barber – guest trombonist
Jerald Shynett – trombone, combos
Keith Ganz – guitar
Jason Foureman – bass, combos
Kobie Watkins (guest artist) – drums, combos, clinics
Dan Davis – drums, jazz history, basic music skills
Juan Álamo – percussion, combos
Ed Paolantonio – theory, combos
Andy Bechtel – journalism
STAFF
Rebecca Clemens – Associate Director, combo instructor
Jonathan Minnick – Head Workshop Counselor
Christopher Law – Workshop Counselor, bassist
Griffin Martin – Workshop Counselor, bassist
Alex Upton – Workshop Counselor, saxophone
FACULTY AND STAFF BIOGRAPHIES
Described as “a true piano monster” (All About Jazz) and as “a bright star on the jazz horizon” (Musical Memoirs), STEPHEN ANDERSON is a critically acclaimed composer and pianist whose music has been published on nineteen compact discs through Summit, Albany, Nagel Heyer Records, and other labels. Many of Anderson’s recordings have appeared on the Grammy® Awards (53rd, 56th, 58th, 59th, 64th) and Latin Grammy® Awards (17th and 23rd) ballots representing Summit Records. For his work as composer, pianist, and band leader for the Dominican Jazz Project, his recordings have been praised as “vibrant, passionate music” (JAZZIZ) and “more sizzling than fried peppers and onions” (Jazz Weekly). Anderson’s composition, Un Cambio de Ritmo, was listed in All About Jazz’s top “Popular Songs: 2021,” and the Desde Lejos CD was listed on Root’s Music Report, “Top Jazz Album Chart 2021.” The Dominican Jazz Project was recognized in both Mark Sullivan’s “Best Releases of 2016” (All About Jazz) and Ken Frackling’s “2016 Best Latin/Brazilian Jazz Recordings” (Jazz Notes). Both the Stephen Anderson Trio Nation Degeneration and Forget Not CDs received 4½ stars (out of 5) from the All Music Guide, and Forget Not was nominated best jazz “Debut CD” at the 3rd Annual Village Voice Jazz Critics Poll (2008). Anderson’s recordings have received feature reviews in JAZZIZ, All Music Guide, All About Jazz, Jazz Weekly, Jazz Times, Jazz en Dominicana, Musical Memoirs, and Root’s Music Report. His work with the Dominican Jazz Project and Marimjazzia Latin jazz ensembles have led him to perform at multiple festivals in the Caribbean, as well as in Central and South America since 2014. Associated with the 2022 Jazzomania Jazz Festival IV, and as founder and director of the Dominican Jazz Project, Anderson was formally recognized and distinguished by the Minister of Culture, Señora Milagros Germán, government of the Dominican Republic for “his research and contributions to the national musical heritage” having “generated pieces and compositions whose contents are based on the roots of native Dominican music that “have traveled with our seal of identity.” The Dominican Jazz Project was invited to the Palacio Nacional for the “condecoración” ceremony of bandmate, Guillo Carias, by President Luis Rodolfo Abinader, President of the Dominican Republic. The DJP appeared on MúsicaPress TV (2021), and several articles have been published about the group in Santo Domingo newspapers (REPORTEEXTRA, Areito, Vivir.Alegria). Anderson was a finalist for the 2021 American Prize in Composition in the Orchestra division for his symphonic work, Concerto for Puerto Rico. His concert works have been performed internationally, including performances at the Festival Internacional Musiquem Lleida! (Coral Shalom and string orchestra, Lleida, Spain), the Festival Internacional de Percusión Tamborimba (Orquesta Filarmónica de Cali, Colombia), Other awards include finalist, two commissions from the Barlow Endowment (2005, 2010), finalist in the West Point Jazz Knights Composers Forum competition (2011), Chapman Family Foundation Teaching Award (2014), Junior Faculty Development Award-UNC (2008). Dr. Anderson is Professor of Composition and Jazz Studies at the University of North Carolina and serves as Director of Jazz Studies and Director of the UNC Summer Jazz Workshop. He earned the D.M.A. degree (2005) and a M.M degree (2000) from the University of North Texas and the B.Mus. degree from Brigham Young University (1997).
BECCA CLEMENS, is Associate Director of the UNC Summer Jazz Workshop. She serves as Director of Bands at Margaret B. Pollard Middle School. A native of Chapel Hill, NC, she received a Master of Music degree in Bass Trombone Performance from Texas State University, and a Bachelor of Music degree with education licensure from The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. As a graduate student she assisted with instruction of the Texas State undergraduate brass methods courses, trombone choir, and athletic bands. Her primary trombone instructors have been Mike Kris and Dr. Martin McCain, with additional instruction from Matt Guilford and Pierre Beaudry. Becca is an active freelance musician in the Triangle area, and plays with groups including the Durham Symphony Orchestra, PlayMakers Repertory Company, and the NCJRO. She has maintained a private lesson studio since 2007, and often works as a brass clinician in middle schools and high schools around North Carolina.
RAHSAAN BARBER – Since earning a Master’s Degree in Jazz Performance from the Manhattan School of Music in 2005, Rahsaan Barber (Assistant Professor) has set out on a singular path of musical excellence in performance, composition, education, and entrepreneurship. Residing proudly in his hometown of Nashville, Tennessee, Rahsaan enjoys a career that encompasses performing and recording in an ever-expanding range of musical styles, including jazz, blues, funk, classical, fusion, soul, Latin, and world music.
Rahsaan’s passionate, sincere, and studious approach to music-making has garnered professional appearances onstage with heavyweights including the Temptations, Delfeayo Marsalis, the Spanish Harlem Orchestra, Duffy Jackson, Winard Harper, Kirk Franklin, and the Wooten Brothers. The saxophonist has performed on many of the world’s most prestigious stages for music, including The Ryman, The Village Vanguard, Birdland, Lincoln Center, the Kennedy Center, and the Montreux Jazz Festival. Rahsaan has joined the ranks of the nation’s rising jazz stars as the leader of his own instrumental band, Everyday Magic; co-leader of Latin-jazz septet El Movimiento; and the creator, bandleader, songwriter, and producer of emerging hip-hop, soul band The Megaphones. In addition, he has built a reputation as a standout jazz producer with the founding of his record label, Jazz Music City, in August of 2011. The label launched with the release of Everyday Magic, an album featuring Rahsaan’s Nashville-based quintet. The album was awarded the rare honor of Editor’s Pick by DownBeat Magazine, along with receiving high praise from both critics and audiences. Since the release of Everyday Magic, Rahsaan has become an in-demand producer for Nashville’s rising jazz artists, including singer/songwriter Stephanie Adlington and trumpeter Imer Santiago.
Rahsaan is also an accomplished music educator. In August of 2005, at the young age of 25, he was hired by Belmont University to teach at the celebrated music school’s saxophone studio. Promoted to a full-time instructor for the last three years of his six years at Belmont, Rahsaan taught a wide array of courses, including private lessons, improvisation, classical and commercial ensembles, and performance seminars. In 2013, he was hired by Tennessee State University to teach private saxophone lessons. While focusing his energies towards musical performance and composition, as well as the management of his record label, Jazz Music City, Rahsaan remains a sought-after private instructor and clinician at the collegiate and professional level. He has presented master classes for students at numerous educational institutions, including Michigan State University, Belmont University, Lipscomb University, the Nashville Jazz Workshop, Tennessee State University, the University of Louisville, the University of Memphis, and the University of North Carolina.
Rahsaan is a Yamaha Performing Artist and proudly endorses Yamaha saxophones. He is also quite active in the greater jazz community of Music City, serving as the Vice-President of the Tennessee Jazz and Blues Society and a board member of the Nashville Jazz Workshop, as well as volunteering for Fisk University’s radio station, WFSK, as host of the radio-show “Generations In Jazz”.
AL STRONG is an award winning trumpet player, composer, recording artist and educator. A cultural innovator, he is the co-founder of the Art of Cool Project, which spawned the original Art of Cool Music Festival in Durham, N.C. and the stArt of Cool youth summer camp.
Strong is lauded for his distinctively unique sound. Whether melting hearts at a whisper volume or being gracefully dynamic when the music calls for more intensity, his natural ability to strike listeners at their core is unmatched. His 2016 debut album, LoveStrong Vol. 1, a 10-song mix of original music and jazz classics, garnered national and international attention for its “blues-inflicted, Southern church-happy” sound.
A native of Washington, D.C., Strong is a graduate of the renowned Duke Ellington School for the Performing Arts and holds a Bachelor’s degree in Jazz Studies from North Carolina Central University and a Master’s in Jazz Performance / Pedagogy from Northern Illinois University.
Strong’s discipline and dedication to his craft has forged a prominent career that includes performances with music legends such as Aretha Franklin, The Count Basie Orchestra, Dwele, Eric Roberson, and The Hamiltones. He’s also served as music director for hip-hop pioneer Rakim and has headlined shows at the Blue Note Jazz Festival, Winter Jazz Fest, and Blues Alley.
Known for his creative ability to seamlessly re-imagine existing works like Thelonious Monk’s “Blue Monk” and the classic “My Favorite Things,” Strong aims to challenge the boundaries of music while connecting with his audiences. He continues this mission of storytelling with his latest project “LEVAS,” Strong’s heartfelt arrangement of the Negro National Anthem, “Lift Every Voice and Sing.”
GREGG GELB is a recipient of a Jazz Composers Award from the North Carolina Arts Council and four Regional Artist grants from the Fayetteville/Cumberland County Arts Council. In addition to leading his Jazz Quartet, 8-piece Swing Band, BIG BAND, Latin Jazz Band and other small groups, he is founder and director of the Heart of Carolina Jazz Orchestra and Jazz Society, and co-founder and player with the North Carolina Jazz Repertory Orchestra. He is director of the Triangle Youth Jazz Ensemble and he teaches Introduction to Jazz online for Central Carolina Community College. He has been an Interim Assistant Professor of Jazz at Francis Marion University, UNC Greensboro, NC State and UNC Chapel Hill and he was a Visiting Artist in the North Carolina Community Colleges. He has taught music in universities and public schools throughout North Carolina including his current adjunct professor position as Woodwinds, Jazz and Classical Music Appreciation Instructor at Fayetteville State University and Jazz and Classical Music Appreciation Instructor Jazz at Central Carolina Community College. He has a Bachelor of Music Education degree from Berklee College of Music, a Master of Music degree from the North Carolina School of the Arts, and a DMA from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro.
Native of Nashville, TN, known around the world as “Music City,” trombonist ROLAND BARBER enjoys a career full of diverse and exciting musical pursuits at the highest level. Roland has achieved a powerful, soulful and spiritual artistry as a jazz performer, so much so that Curtis Fuller (John Coltrane’s only trombonist) exclaimed upon hearing him, “Now THAT’s what jazz trombone is all about!” Roland’s style is a synthesis of jazz’s finest elements – sporting a keen, fluent command of the bebop language, tempered with a compelling sense of melodic “voice” that’s rooted in the swagger and soul of the blues and swing traditions. Roland employs a warm, personal tone that is lyrical and full, yet ready to burn with heat and intensity when the moment presents itself. Roland is also known for his masterful plunger-mute playing – a gem in the music of jazz that goes back to Tricky Sam Nanton of Ellington’s orchestra and a study has been passed down the generations, most directly to Roland through mentors Steve Turre and Al Grey.
Barber has performed with titans of jazz music as well as young lions, including Stefon Harris, Sean Jones, Clark Terry, Branford Marsalis, Houston Person, Jeff “Tain” Watts, Wynton Marsalis and Jazz at Lincoln Center, the Duke Ellington Orchestra, the Chico O’Farill Afro Cuban Jazz Orchestra, Lainie Cooke and the Grammy-winning New Orleans Jazz Ensemble. Barber has performed in venues the world over, from Manhattan to Estonia, including Carnegie Hall, Birdland, the Blue Note, Lincoln Center, the Kennedy Center, and Madison Square Garden. Television appearances include MTV’s Making the Band, NBC’s Saturday Night Live, CBS’ Today Show and the ESPN Awards. Beyond the jazz realm, Roland has performed with a stylistically broad “who’s who” of the music scene, including the Wooten Brothers, Slavic Soul Party, Lauryn Hill, the Nashville Symphony, Lady A, Melinda Doolittle, Chaka Khan, Aretha Franklin, Lauren Daigle, Taj Mahal, Keb’ Mo, the Wood Brothers, Cissy Houston, La India, Roberto Blades, Take 6, Ladysmith Black Mambazo, Kirk Whalum, the NBC Saturday Night Live Band and the Spanish Harlem Orchestra.
Alongside being a compelling performer, Barber is also a celebrated composer and arranger, and was awarded a New Works Jazz Grant from Chamber Music America, which led to the writing and premier of his first extended suite, Songs of the Village, written for quintet. This suite saw its world premiere at Lincoln Center’s Dizzy’s Club in 2010. Having relocated back to Nashville, TN after a seven year tenure in NYC, Roland is now a mainstay in the Nashville studio scene, having recorded in almost every genre imaginable. Roland’s combination of experience and talent that puts him at the top of the city’s list when brass performance is needed. Despite the global difficulties of 2020, Roland celebrated the first year of recording on EVERY brass instrument (from trumpet to tuba) in the studio, and is trailblazing a path as a one-man, multi-instrumentalist brass machine.
Barber holds an M.M. in Jazz Studies from Manhattan School of Music (2005), as well as an Artist Diploma (2003) and B.M. in Jazz Studies (2001), both from Indiana University.
JERALD SHYNETT, trombonist, composer, and educator is a native of Tampa, Florida, currently residing in Wilmington, NC. Jerald is an Associate Professor of Trombone and the Coordinator of Jazz Studies at the University of North Carolina Wilmington, where he teaches trombone, improvisation, jazz theory, jazz arranging, jazz history, and directs the UNCW Jazz Big Band and Vocal Jazz Ensemble. He is an active performer and clinician throughout North Carolina, performing with the Grammy-nominated Jazz Surge, and the John Brown Orchestra based in Durham, NC.
Before coming to UNCW in 1998, Jerald maintained an active career as a freelance trombonist, composer and arranger in Florida. He has performed with such notable artists as Chick Corea, Slide Hampton, Randy Brecker, Conrad Herwig , Joe Chambers, Bob Mintzer, Vincent Herring, K.C. and the Sunshine Band, The O’Jays, Ray Charles, LizaMinelli, and Wayne Newton, as well asthe North Carolina Jazz Repertory Orchestra. Jerald’s compositions and arrangements have been performed throughout the United States and Germany, most recently with the German Big Bandits, the John Brown Orchestra, the University of North Texas, University of South Florida, University of Miami and Northwestern University. Writing credits extend into television and film with Paramount’s “Domestic Disturbance” and Warner Brother’s television “One Tree Hill.” Jerald holds a Master of Music degree from the University of Miami (‘96), and a Bachelor of Music degree from the University of South Florida (‘94).
KEITH GANZ is a GRAMMY™ nominated jazz guitarist and producer known for his unique and melodic voice on both electric and acoustic guitars. Lauded as a “sublime master of subtlety” by JazzTimes, Keith has performed extensively with major jazz artists including Harry Connick, Jr., Tierney Sutton, Luciana Souza, Kurt Elling, Gretchen Parlato, Gary Versace, and Jo Lawry. TV appearances include Oprah, Ellen, The Late Show with David Letterman, The View, and Australian Idol. Keith is the long-time musical and life partner of vocalist Kate McGarry, serving as her producer, co-arranger and musical director for 7 critically acclaimed albums including two GRAMMY™ nominations for Best Jazz Vocal Album. After honing his craft on the NYC jazz scene for many years and a stint out west at the California Jazz Conservatory, Keith has returned home to Durham, NC where he and Kate continue creating new music, teaching, and touring.
JASON FOUREMAN is in demand as a performer, clinician, and educator. Born in Durham, NC he received his undergraduate degree from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro in 2000. In 2005, he was awarded a teaching assistantship at the University of Louisville where he taught and received his Masters degree in Jazz Studies. Currently, Foureman is on faculty at UNC-Chapel Hill, UNC-Wilmington and NC State and has been the bassist for the North Carolina Jazz Repertoire Orchestra (NCJRO) since 2007. In addition to his teaching responsibilities, Foureman has performed with Cedar Walton, Eric Alexander, Jim Snidero, Jamey Aebersold, Kenny Werner, Terri Lyne Carrington, Joel Frahm, Slide Hampton, Dave Leibman, John Pizzarelli, Renee Marie, Branford Marsalis, Gary Smyulen, Conrad Herwig, Brian Lynch, Joe Magnerelli as well as many others. He resides in Chapel Hill, NC with his wife, Megan, their two daughters and son.
KOBIE WATKINS, who has three brothers and four sisters, was born in Chicago on July 26, 1975. His interest in music was sparked at around age three when he first saw his father playing drums at a local Apostolic Overcoming Holy Church of God. Prior to devoting himself to religion, Alious C. Watkins Jr. had played trap drums and other percussion instruments with the Pharaohs, a now-legendary jazz-funk group in which Earth, Wind & Fire leader Maurice White had been the original drummer, and he also backed the Dells on local engagements. His dad’s drumming led Kobie and his brothers to bang on pots and pans around the house. Kobie took up trumpet in fourth grade, played it in the jazz band while attending Orr High School, and later used it in his work as an elementary school music teacher in Joliet, Illinois, where he also played oboe, flute, clarinet, trombone, tuba, and French horn in order to demonstrate them to his fourth- and fifth-grade students.
Alious bought a toy drum set for Kobie when he was nine and a real one when he was 12. Kobie shared the set with his younger brother Asa (who remains active as a drummer in Los Angeles), and they began playing it in church, where their father had become pastor. The lessons learned from playing for a Pentecostal church choir continue to inform Kobie’s playing. “The intuitive part that goes with gospel drumming is making sure your eyes and ears are in tune with whatever’s happening in front of you,” Watkins explains. “Those are probably the most important things that I have learned with music in general, especially in jazz. When people tell me that jazz is all you need, I’m, like, wow!
“A lot of times with gospel music, it had to be in the moment. You had to be there spiritually and musically. That was probably the hardest musical experience I feel I’ve ever had, especially as a kid. If you don’t play correctly, they will put you off the drums right in mid-song. They will point to someone else and tell them to get on the drums. It’s happened to me. If the shout beat is not right, they’ll throw you off. It’s one of the most devastating things that can happen to you as a kid, but you also learn and your skin toughens. It’s worse than being out in the jazz community, or being out in the world anywhere, because at least they give you a better chance.”
DAN DAVIS (B.M.- Music Education/Percussion – East Carolina University; M.M.- Jazz Studies/Performance – North Carolina Central University, Summa Cum Laude) Studied drumset with David Via, Keith Copeland, and Thomas Taylor. Dan received the A.J. Fletcher music scholarship to study percussion at East Carolina University. He was the 1987 M.T.N.A.- Wurlitzer competition national winner in percussion and in 1988, won the E.C.U. concerto competition performing Paul Creston’s, Concertino for Marimba (3rd mvt.) with the E.C.U symphony Orchestra. In 1989, Dan received the Farmville Friends scholarship. Dan moved to the Raleigh/Durham/Chapel Hill area in 1990 and began a long association with many of the finest musicians in the region. He is an active educator and clinician. From 2002-2005, Dan was a band director at the Durham School of the Arts in Durham, N.C., receiving the Claus Nobel educator of distinction award in 2005. Currently, he maintains a full schedule of students and performs in many different styles of music. He is an adjunct professor of Jazz drumset, Jazz history, and directs Jazz combos at UNC-Chapel Hill, East Carolina University, and UNC-Pembroke. As an educator, he has performed with artists Joe Chambers, Claudio Roditi, Conrad Herwig, Eric Alexander, Ben Allison, The North Carolina Jazz Repertory Orchestra, Gary Smulyan, Lynn Seaton, Jeb Patton, and many others.
KATE MCGARRY – With 6 critically acclaimed CDs and 2 Grammy nominations (2019 and 2009) for Best Jazz Vocal CD Kate McGarry has become recognized as a jazz artist who brings authenticity and vitality to every song regardless of genre. The Wall St. Journal calls her music, “Austere and elegant,” New York Times pronounced it, “astute and sensitive”. She currently performs in jazz clubs, performing arts centers and festivals throughout the US and abroad. As an educator she has taught at New England Conservatory and Manhattan School of Music. Downbeat’s 2016 Critics Poll named McGarry the #1 Rising Star Female Vocalist. She has been interviewed on All Things Considered, and has performed on Jazz Set w/DeeDee Bridgwater, Piano Jazz w/Marion McPartland, and a host of nationally syndicated radio shows.
Singer Kate McGarry grew up in Hyannis, Mass., one of 10 children in a musical family that spent many nights singing together. At the University of Massachusetts Amherst she earned a degree in Afro-American Music and Jazz. Kate began developing her organic vocal style through early training in jazz performance with Dr Horace Boyer and iconic saxophonist Archie Shepp. Her experiences studying at a meditation ashram and exploring Celtic, Brazilian and Indian music also contributed to her widescreen vision as a vocalist and composer. After years honing her craft in Los Angeles, McGarry moved to New York where her independently produced (by Steven Santoro) debut album, Show Me, was picked up by Palmetto Records. Jazziz Magazine declared, “With this near-flawless album, she has arrived.”
In 2005 McGarry’s Mercy Streets album – which ranged from the Peter Gabriel title track to songs by Björk, Joni Mitchell and Irving Berlin – was called “one of the most important vocal albums of the year” by All About Jazz. Featuring originals alongside tunes by Sting and Bill Evans/Miles Davis, her album The Target was named one of the best jazz vocal albums of 2007 by Downbeat. The Downbeat reviewer called the recording “a milestone of maturity,” adding: “McGarry has the pure untrammeled voice of an ingénue who finds wonder in the simplest of things.” Her 2008 album, If Less Is More, Nothing Is Everything, was nominated for a Grammy Award, with The Wall Street Journal calling it “an exceptionally appealing blend of folk and jazz” for its mix of originals, standards, Brazilian tunes and songs by the likes of Bob Dylan. National Public Radio said: “Kate McGarry is called a jazz vocalist, but she’s hard to pin down. She draws on the music of her youth to inspire her – from the Irish tunes of her family’s roots to musical theater to pop songs.”
JUAN ÁLAMO is an internationally known performer, composer, and educator. Álamo has presented solo recitals at universities and percussion and jazz festivals throughout the United States, Central and South America, the Caribbean and Europe. He has recorded and shared the stage performing in collaboration with renowned artists such as Keiko Abe, Ney Rosauro, Tito Puente, Arturo Sandoval, Dave Samuels, Michael Spiro, Ted Piltzecker and famous conductors such as Sergiu Comissiona and Krzyszt Penderecki. Álamo has also authored two keyboard percussion books: “Milt Jackson: Transcribed Solos of the Master” and “Four Mallet Music for the Modern Marimba Player”. He has also recoded two solo marimba albums: Remembrance (2007) and Marimjazzia (2014). Álamo is an assistant professor at UNC Chapel Hill and an artist-clinician for Encore Mallets Inc., Yamaha and Meinl percussion.
ED PAOLANTONIO, pianist, is from New York City but lives now in Durham, NC. In addition to earning a BS in Music Education from SUNY and an MM in performance from UNC-Chapel Hill, he studied 3 1/2 years with world famous jazz pianist, teacher and composer Lennie Tristano. He has been composing, arranging and performing jazz professionally since 1971 and has accompanied many jazz giants including Dizzie Gillespie, Slide Hampton, Clark Terry, Lee Konitz, Curtis Fuller, Jimmy Heath, and Emily Remler.
Mr. Paolantonio has been described as an “all consuming musician..(whose) solo struck sparks around the room.”–Owen Cardle (News and Observer, Raleigh, NC) “He’s outstanding,… talented and prolific”, said R.C. Smith (Durham Morning Herald). Joe Vanderford (Spectator, Raleigh, NC) wrote of “Paolantonionio’s sound…(as) full of arpeggios, utilizing every one of the eighty-eights”. Paolantonio has toured with North Carolina drummer Max Roach. As an artist in the NC Touring Program, he performed with his much acclaimed vocal group, String of Pearls. He toured the Middle East for USIA with vibraphonist, Jon Metzger, and has received North Carolina Jazz Fellowship Awards as well as the Durham Emerging Artist Grant.
An excellent clinician, Paolantonio has served in schools and colleges in and out of state. He was NC Artist in Residence for three years and has taught jazz improvisation and history at U.N.C.-Chapel Hill, Duke University, North Carolina State University and Elon College. As an accompanist, Paolantonio’s recording credits include 2 cd’s with the North Carolina Jazz Repertory Orchestra. One consisted of Benny Goodman’s arrangements and one of Duke Ellington’s compositions. His credits also include Scott Sawyer’s CD “In the Stream”; Group Sax’s three recordings, “A New Level”, “All’s Well” and “Prime Time”; Karen Love’s CD “I Believe in Little Things”; and Dan Axelrod’s LP “New Axe” distributed on the Phoenix record label.
ANDY BECHTEL teaches editing and writing for print and digital media. He joined the faculty in 2005. Bechtel has nearly 12 years of editing experience in newspapers, primarily at The News & Observer in Raleigh, N.C. His other experience includes work as a copy editor and page designer at the News & Record in Greensboro, N.C. While teaching at UNC, he worked for a summer at the website of the Los Angeles Times.
Bechtel is a member of the American Copy Editors Society, and he has served as a member of the Executive Committee of ACES. He has also written several articles for the ACES newsletter and website.
Bechtel is the author of two online courses for Poynter Institute’s NewsU: one on the fundamentals of editing and another on alternative story forms. He has also written reviews and articles for publications such as Journalism & Mass Communication Educator, Society for News Design Update and the North Carolina Media Law Handbook.