Jack Schantz Quartet Headlines
"Bands, Bands, Bands!" Concert 

DEFIANCE, Ohio – Jazz and swing devotees will have another enjoyable evening on January 13 at the historic Valentine Theater with the appearance of the Jack Schantz Quartet. The concert,  part of the Sam Hornish Jr. “Bands, Bands, Bands!” series sponsored by the Defiance Community Cultural Commission, is at 7:30 P.M. Series sponsors are the Hubbard Company, Defiance Clinic, and Mercy Hospital. Event sponsor is Arps Dairy.

An Ohio native, quartet leader Schantz has been trumpet soloist for the Glenn Miller, Tommy Dorsey, Artie Shaw, and Woody Herman orchestras.  He has traveled nationally and internationally, developing his own relaxed style after being inspired by such greats as Conte Candoli, Kenny Dorham, and Donald Byrd. His improvisatory style is outstanding, leaving club and concert audiences impressed. He has been musical director of the well-regarded Cleveland Jazz Orchestra, which has gained a reputation for its interpretations of swing and jazz greats as well as for the talents of its own writers and arrangers.

As a trumpet soloist, Schantz has also been featured on several albums, including” An Oscar Peterson Christmas,” “Speechless” (with his own quartet) and “Choices” (with his 14-piece modern jazzgroup). Schantz is also active as an educator, serving as Coordinator of Jazz Studies at The University of Akron and presenting dozens of clinics and master classes at area colleges and high schools.

Schantz has worked with dozens of jazz artists like Wynton Marsalis, Tom Harrell, and Arturo Sandoval. He has also performed in the pit orchestras for touring Broadway shows and also recorded dozens of television and radio jingles. In addition to his jazz activities, Schantz also performs as a member of the Cleveland Pops Orchestra and the Blossom Festival Band.

Ron Busch , vibraphone, is a native Clevelander who has recorded with internationally recognized musicians. His recordings include “Magic Language,” “Hometown Christmas, and “The Surprise of Being, among others.  

Busch has been an owner-operator of The Cleveland Bop Stop, a jazz night club, since 1991. After closing in 2000 and reopening in 2003 in a rebuilt location,  the Cleveland Bop Stop also meant the rebirth of the 13-piece Jack Schantz Bop Stop Jazz Unit. In a sense, says Busch, it’s the house band. The Bop Stop Jazz Unit is sort of a Cleveland version of the Village Vanguard Big Band, which plays Monday nights in New York City. The Jazz Unit does a lot of original music, all of it written by band members.

Mark Gonder,  drums,  is an adjunct professor with the Jazz Studies Program at the University of Akron.  An alumnus of UA, he toured internationally both with the Glenn Miller and Tommy Dorsey Orchestras.  In New York City, Gonder studied with jazz drummers Billy Hart, Horacee Arnold and Kenwood Dennard.  He has worked with trumpeters Doc Cheatham and Spanky Davis.  

Gonder is a member of the Cleveland Jazz Orchestra and has performed with the Cleveland Orchestra, the Akron Symphony Orchestra, the Beaver Valley Philharmonic and the UA Faculty Jazz Ensemble, touring Germany in 2005. He has been featured on numerous CDs and appears with several jazz ensembles.  He maintains a busy private teaching schedule and is an adjudicator-clinician throughout Northeastern Ohio.

David Morgan, bass, is an award-winning composer as well as a performer. He was commissioned to write for the American Wind Symphony Orchestra. Morgan has performed with many leading musicians and ensembles, including Dizzy Gillespie, Cedar Walton, James, Moody, Larry Coryell, Benny Golson, Bob Brookmeyer, and the Cleveland Orchestra. He is an associate professor of jazz studies and double bass at Youngstown State University.

Tickets for the Jack Schantz Quartet are available in advance for $8.00 at the Defiance Public Library, Defiance Development and Visitors Bureau, and Kissner’s. Admission at the door is $10.00.

Defiance College, chartered in 1850, is an independent, liberal arts institution in Northwest Ohio offering more than 40 undergraduate programs of study as well as graduate programs in education and business. Defiance College has received national recognition for its educational experience of service and engagement. The college website is www.defiance.edu.

January 10, 2011