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Ed Soph’s career spans forty years as a performer, recording artist, author, teacher, and his influence continues.
Ed is one of the most respected jazz drummers today. He is an influential educator offering clinics and masterclasses around the world. He was a long standing teacher and student at the University of North Texas. He is the author of Essential Techniques for Drumset, Musical Time, and The Big Band. Instructional videos include The Drum Set: A Musical Approach and Musical Time. His student list is impressive – Ari Hoenig, Keith Carlock, Chris DeRosa, Jason Sutter, and Dave Weckl are a few of the many successful students he has impacted.
He graduated in 1968 from the University of North Texas where as a student he performed with One O’Clock Lab Band, the Glenn Miller Orchestra, Stan Kenton and after he graduated he joined Woody Herman on a recommendation from Cannonball Adderley and by 1971 he found himself in New York where he worked as a freelance performing and recording drummer.
The renowned list of artists he worked with include Clark Terry, Bill Watrous, Bill Evans, Marvin Stamm, Randy Brecker, Joe Henderson, Pat LaBarbera, Bill Mays, Cedar Walton, Dave Liebman, Chris Potter, Carl Fontana, and Slide Hampton.
In 1987 he returned to his alma mater the University of North Texas where he taught Jazz Studies and Performance. He was inducted into the Percussive Arts Society Hall of Fame in 2016 and soon after retired in 2017.
We ask the one standard question that most drummers love to hear and to talk about, what and who are your influences. What makes a master, what plants the seed to grow the passion to play this instrument. Oh, we do throw one twist, we are asking for 3-influences, and 3-players today we should know about… could you just stick to three?
Ed was kind enough to take the time to detail his story, his influences, and why he’s a drummer. Find out if he can stick to only 3-influences. Ed continues to endorse Yamaha Drums, Zildjian Cymbals, and Innovative Percussion (Ed Soph Signature sticks).
Ed writes:
The music brought me to the drums. My father collected early jazz records and I was entranced by the music of Louis Armstrong, Sidney Bechet, and Jelly Roll Morton. As many youngsters do (I was 5-6 years old.), I danced to the music as in the rhythms of those great instrumentalists were so infectious.
One day my father gave me a pair of drumsticks and a woodblock and my dancing took a new form. I sat on the floor with the woodblock in front of me and played along with the drummers on many of those recordings, mainly Warren “Baby” Dodds and Zutty Singleton. I improvised just as they did and it was really fun. My woodblock was set aside when I received my first snare drum when I was 8 years old. Now, I could emulate the press rolls in the style of Dodds and Singleton and move to the wooden hoops of the drum when I wanted to play woodblock. My New Orleans jazz drumming world was upended when my father put a Charlie Parker record on the player and I heard my first Be-Bop jazz. I did not like it and asked that Sidney Bechet be played. But my father gently insisted and Max Roach and Kenny Clarke entered my musical life and demanded that I get a drum set.
In 1958, seated behind my black diamond pearl Gretsch kit and my Zildjian hi-hats and ride, I played along with Charlie Parker, Dizzy Gillespie, Charles Mingus, and Thelonious Monk. I was really struck by the drummer with Mingus’ band, Dannie Richmond. His soloing was thematic and melodic. Once I heard those qualities in his drumming I began hearing it in that of the drumming of the earlier players. It wasn’t all about chops! It was about playing the music like everyone else in the band. I played along with the recordings without headphones which meant that I had to learn to play with appropriate dynamics. Otherwise, you couldn’t hear the music coming out of the speakers. That was good practice that paid off later. In my high school years, I had the good fortune of playing with experienced and much older jazz musicians in Houston. They were inspirational and supportive and patient.
When I went to North Texas State University (now the University of North Texas) in 1963 I was introduced by my more knowledgeable peers to the drumming of Roy Haynes on Chick Corea’s album, Now He Sings, Now He Sobs, Tony Williams on Miles Davis’ Live in Europe, and Elvin Jones on John Coltrane’s Live at Birdland. Further musical revelations came from Frankie Dunlop, Billy Higgins, Art Blakey, Pete LaRoca, Mel Lewis, Bernard Purdie, Clyde Stubblefield, and Zigaboo Modeliste.
Today, I still listen to all of the afore-mentioned drummers for inspiration and insights into musical expression. Listening today to a recording that I first heard 60 years ago reveals all sorts of nuances that my young ears could not hear. It’s like reading Huckleberry Finn as a kid and reading it again fifty years later. It’s a whole different story!
Drummers whom I hear carrying on the deep tradition of inspired rhythmic improvisation include Dan Weiss, Antonio Sanchez, Eric Harland, Chris Dave, Marcus Gilmore, Tyshawn Sorey, Joey Baron, and so many, many more. But I’ve already mentioned more than 3!
Ed Soph Innovative Percussion Series Stick: HERE
