Chip Stephens' exceptional talent at the piano has taken him around the world several times, and his experience is now benefiting students and audiences in the Colorado jazz community.
The Grammy and Emmy Award-winning pianist in the CU-Boulder College of Music, where he is an assistant professor, has released two acclaimed compact discs. He's played in the Glenn Miller Orchestra and the Maynard Ferguson and Woody Herman big bands, and spent two years recording and globetrotting with Cuban jazz trumpet legend Arturo Sandoval.
Stephens will be featured in the CU-Boulder Faculty Tuesdays recital series on March 12 at 7:30 p.m. in the Grusin Music Hall on the CU-Boulder campus. He also performs Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights at the El Chapultepec jazz club in Denver.
Stephens, 37, loved playing faraway gigs for large crowds in places like Hong Kong and Australia.
"I miss the days when I was on the road, playing high-level music with great musicians -- playing for 10,000 or 20,000 people sometimes," he said. "At the same time, I really feel blessed. I have a great situation here at CU, and there's a great jazz scene in Denver."
Growing up on his parents' 500-acre farm in Ashland, Ohio, Stephens learned about nature, fishing and farming while trying to keep up with his sister and two older brothers. He got started in music at the age of eight, when his mother insisted that he learn to play the organ.
"My mother wanted to have an artist in the family, and so, 'whammo!' she picked me. She always liked the organ in church, so she found an organ teacher for me," he said.
His first experience on piano came in a grade school gymnasium. "I sat down to play, and within 30 seconds, I had about 50 kids gathered around the piano. I thought, 'Man, this is cool.' From that moment on, I loved it - and my mother never had to ask me to practice again."
At age 19, he landed his first professional gig with the Glenn Miller Orchestra. It was then that Stephens and his family began realizing that music could be his career.
"I never made a conscious decision, 'I'm going to be a musician.' But I do remember people telling me, 'You've got talent, and if you stick with it, you could do something in this business,' " he said.
He went on to earn a master's degree in classical performance, honing technical skills that shine through in his improvisations today. As an undergraduate at the University of Akron, he developed a special relationship with Pat Pace, a renowned pianist and educator.
"He's like my second father. I call him every now and then," Stephens said. "He taught me how to play the instrument with balance. It enables you to play incredibly fast, with a lot of virtuosity, but you're not killing yourself to do it."
After a number of touring experiences, the birth of his son Cole in 1998 prompted Stephens to cut back on travel to spend more time with his wife, Carol, and their new baby. His teaching career flourished, and he joined the CU-Boulder jazz studies faculty in 2000 after five years at Youngstown State as an adjunct professor of jazz piano.
"I'm honored to be a colleague of the people here at CU. I'm blown away by the level of musicianship and teaching going on," Stephens said. "John Davis, the director of jazz studies, and I have a very real-world mentality about what we're trying to do, and I think that's really wonderful."
The award-winning CU-Boulder jazz studies program features top-notch instructors, including Stephens, Davis, bassist Paul Erhard, saxophonist Tom Myer, pianist and arranger Michael Pagan, trumpeter Terry Sawchuk, and drummer-vibraphonist Douglas Walter.
Prominent guest artists frequently visit campus. Wynton Marsalis, Joshua Redman, Joe Lovano and Sandoval have made appearances at CU-Boulder to perform and conduct clinics for students.
"The interest that's being generated from the things that we're doing in the jazz department is terrific," Stephens said.
For information on the Faculty Tuesdays series call (303) 492-8008.