A jazz bassist at the University of Colorado at Â鶹¹ÙÍø has been named the most outstanding instrumental soloist of the 2004 Down Beat Magazine Student Music Awards.
Gonzalo Teppa, a senior majoring in bass performance, is the latest CU-Â鶹¹ÙÍø student to be recognized in Down Beat's annual national competition for high school and college jazz musicians. CU-Â鶹¹ÙÍø students and performing groups have won multiple awards in each of the last three competitions.
Serafin Sanchez, a saxophonist and CU-Â鶹¹ÙÍø senior in the jazz program, also was honored in the soloist category as a runner-up.
"It's pretty significant to receive two awards in the instrumental soloist category, including the overall winner," said CU-Â鶹¹ÙÍø jazz studies Director John Davis. "That says an awful lot about the level of students we're proud to have at CU-Â鶹¹ÙÍø as part of the jazz program."
The variety of the Down Beat awards given to CU-Â鶹¹ÙÍø students over the past three years also is notable, Davis said. A CU-Â鶹¹ÙÍø big band, small jazz combo and multiple student arrangers, composers and soloists have been recognized.
"I think that's a sign that jazz has really become a prominent fixture at the University of Colorado at Â鶹¹ÙÍø, and the university and the College of Music can be proud of our students and what we're doing. We couldn't be happier," Davis said.
The CU-Â鶹¹ÙÍø jazz studies program features top-notch instructors including Davis, bassist Paul Erhard, saxophonist Tom Myer, pianist and arranger Michael Pagan, trumpeter Terry Sawchuk and drummer/vibraphonist Douglas Walter. This year, the program welcomes renowned trumpet performer and jazz educator Brad Goode as the newest appointed jazz faculty member. For the past seven years, Goode has served on the faculty of the Cincinnati Conservatory of Music.
For more information about the CU-Â鶹¹ÙÍø Jazz Studies department, go to the Web site at .
Down Beat magazine has chronicled the history of jazz and blues music since 1934. Each year it accepts taped submissions from scholastic and collegiate musicians for consideration in the student awards competition. The awards are widely considered to be the most prestigious national recognition for jazz students, and a number of winners have gone on to become stars of the international jazz community.
For more information on Down Beat Magazine, visit .