Merete Kenworthy for The Post • Photo by Sara Tobias
Last night, Ernie Bastin directed his last concert at Ohio University.
Two trumpet ensembles, two jazz combos and a jazz ensemble all performed at the concert. Bastin, director of the Ohio University Jazz Ensemble II, is retiring after 40 years at OU.
Bastin taught trumpet, directed Jazz Ensemble I for 30 years and Jazz Ensemble II for the past two years.
The concert began with a surprise trumpet ensemble honoring Bastin, who has been playing trumpet for 62 years. The ensemble was comprised of OU alumni who were all taught by Bastin.
Michael Parkinson, director of the Ohio University School of Music, will take over Bastin’s post next year. Parkinson said he met Bastin in the early 1970s while he was a director at Kent State University.
“I heard of his great reputation, and I knew that he was a tremendous musician,” Parkinson said.
The jazz ensemble started off their part of the concert with the piece “Easy Time” by Humberto Ramirez. Bastin said he especially enjoys this piece because the dancers feed off the musicians and the musicians feed off the dancers who are having so much fun.
“I’m surprised I didn’t see some of you dancing in the aisles,” Bastin said.
Jazz Ensemble II alto saxophone player Billy Foster said Bastin is the best band director he has ever had.
“He knows how to keep the rehearsals lively,” said Foster, a freshman studying music education.
Foster had his first solo last night during the salsa piece “Dancing Eyes” by Mike Tomaro. He said he was nervous but also excited because the solo went very well.
A member of two local bands, Bastin said he will still be quite busy after retirement.
“So, I’m officially retired, but it won’t be that much different,” Bastin said.
Reprinted from The Huntington,WV Herald-Dispatch
IRONTON — The Jazztet will perform at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, April 21, as part of the Ohio University Southern Campus Performing Arts Series.
The performance will take place at the Riffe Center Mains Rotunda. Admission is free.
The Jazztet, Athens’ Premiere Jazz Quintet, consists of Ernie Bastin on valve trombone and percussion, Guy Remonko on drums and percussion, Matt James on saxophone, John Horne on guitar and Terry Douds on bass. A Jazztet performance evokes the classic two-horn quintets of Miles Davis and Horace Silver while embracing the most durable, standard tunes in the jazz canon alongside more contemporary works by composers such as Wynton Marsalis and Pat Metheny.
Bastin is professor emeritus of trumpet at Ohio University. He has a bachelor of music degree from West Virginia University and a master of music degree from the University of Illinois. He currently works part-time teach jazz improvisation and brass methods.
Remonko is professor emeritus of percussion at Ohio University and teaches part-time. He has performed with a variety of well-known artists including Pearl Bailey, Diane Schuur, Eddie Daniels, Marvin Stamm, Gene Bertoncini and Bucky Pizzarelli.
James is a professor of saxophone and jazz studies at Ohio University teaching saxophone, jazz theory, jazz arranging and directs the jazz ensembles. He has degrees from Northern Illinois University and the University of North Texas, where he was the lead alto saxophonist with the acclaimed One O’Clock Lab Band.
Horne is professor of guitar at Ohio University and the University of Rio Grande in addition to having a private teaching practice. He has a degree in guitar performance from Duquesne University. He has taught classes and workshops for Ohio University, the National Guitar Workshop, Jorma Kaukonen’s Fur Peace Ranch Guitar Camp and Athens Community Music School.
Doud is a broadcast technician for Ohio University and teaches audio courses for the Ohio University-Lancaster regional campus. He is a sought after bass instructor, performer, clinician and engineer/producer. He is a graduate of The Ohio State University where he performed on four award-winning albums with The OSU Jazz Ensemble.
For more information, contact Pat McCoy at 740-533-4541.
Reprinted from The Athens News July 24, 2008
Teacher offers youth offenders a 6-string rehab program
Karen Zolka
July 24, 2008
Editor’s note: The full names of the young offenders in this article are not being used out of regard for their privacy.
You walk through a set of double glass doors adorned with announcements printed on yellow cardboard. You continue past a poster with an assortment of pictures, and past a ceramic mural that stretches from the ceiling to the floor. While walking around a circular hallway, you hear snippets of conversation, doors closing and the sound of music.
“I think some of the other staff must be like, ‘Oh God,’ because it gets kind of noisy up there,” Darrell Gladish said with a smile. “They’re all into it.”
This isn’t a floor in Glidden Hall, the music building at Ohio University. Nor is this a private music conservatory. It’s actually the Hocking Valley Community Residential Center, a juvenile correctional facility in Nelsonville.
Continue reading 'John’s residency at HVCRC in The Athens News'
The following stories from the Uniontown Herald Standard recount the life and work of Jazztet drummer Guy Remonko.
Remonko still playing drums after 50 years
By Ron Paglia, For the Herald-Standard
April 28, 2008
It’s been more than 50 years since Guy Remonko played his first professional gig as a drummer.
And his passion for music shows no signs of waning.
“I love (music), it’s that plain and simple,” said Remonko, a 1959 graduate of South Union High School who now lives in Athens, Ohio. “Music has been my life; I doubt that will ever change. As long as I can hold the sticks and keep groovin’, I’ll be playing.”
