Ed Soph, Drummer/Jazz Educator

Ed Soph is Regents Professor Emeritus of Drumset at the University of North Texas.  He was Professor in the Jazz Studies and Performance Divisions of the College of Music at North Texas from 1987-2017.

Soph played with Stan Kenton, Woody Herman, and Clark Terry big bands, and with artists including trumpeters Randy Brecker and Ingrid Jensen; saxophonists Dave Liebman and Chris Potter; and trombonists Urbie Green, Carl Fontana, and Slide Hampton.

Soph recorded 11 Aebersold Play-A-Longs, including “Burnin’: Up Tempo Jazz,” and “Tune Up: Standards In All 12 Keys.”

Describe what it was like to do these recordings in the basement of Jamey Aebersold’s house. 

There was sort of a ritual attached to the Play-A-Longs in that it was usually the Saturday after the camp (Jamey’s summer jazz camp) was over Friday night in Louisville and we’d get up at the crack of dawn and drive over to New Albany (just across the Ohio River in Indiana).  We’d always stop along the way at a legendary donut shop and get a couple of bags of donuts and get over to Jamey’s. 

Quite frankly, the first time that I was at his house and descended into that basement, I was thinking ‘How in the heck is he going to pull this off?’ 

So, we would set up in such a way that there was absolutely no visual contact at all.  Bassists (Todd ) Coolman or (John) Goldsby would be in the room where the copier was.  I would be somewhere back in the bowels of the basement next to saxophone transcription books, or something like that.  And the pianist would be in the main room, where Jamey’s office was.

We were flying literally by the seat of our pants. Jamey would give us the count off, and away we would go.  It was a real challenge at first to keep the tempos in line and occasionally when things would start to get rambunctious, Jamey would come on, and we’d hear him on our earphones, and he’d say ‘ OK guys, let’s keep it where it’s supposed to be.’

In the early days, Jamey often played, and we could hear him, but he wasn’t recorded.  That was really fun because we actually had a horn to play with.  But in the later days, it was just the rhythm section by itself.

I mean it’s amazing that they (the Play-A-Longs) turned out the way they did, given the environment we were recording in.  It was unbelievable.

We did ‘Cherokee’ in 12 keys.  Dan Haerle was playing piano. Dan left this huge amount of space, and when the track was done, we said, ‘Man, that was great the way you laid out there like that.’ And he said, ‘Yeah, I wasn’t sure what key we were in!”

Why do you think the Aebersold Play-A-Longs have been so successful?

Well, because they’re good.  The earlier Play-A-Longs were really not improvisationally centered the way Jamey’s were.  That, plus the repertoire that the Aebersold Play-A-Longs encompassed.

Those early days were really quite remarkable, mainly because the music, to a greater degree than today, was in the culture, and there were kids who knew about jazz.  It wasn’t as though they were being introduced to a foreign language.  So, it’s a lot different than it is today in some respects.

What is Jamey Aebersold’s legacy in and contribution to jazz education?

A lot of people don’t know that thoroughly accomplished masters use these today, whether it’s to stay in shape, because their gigs aren’t happening, or to expand their repertoire.

As a drummer, one of my ways of learning how to play in the early days was playing along with my parents’ records.  Playing along has always been a factor in learning to play music.

What should the casual listener understand about Aebersold’s accomplishments?

I think he’s taken something that many people have looked upon as magical and put it in a framework where, as Jamey says, ‘Anyone can improvise.’

I have a neighbor who is a former city councilman, and I was walking by his house one day—he’s a trombone player, plays in the local senior band—and he stopped me and he said, ‘Do you have any ideas for something I could use to help me learn how to improvise?’ So, this man’s in his late 60’s, early 70’s, and he got Jamey’s blues Play-A-Long, and he’s doing his thing.