AC Faculty Member in Concert posted 10/14/10
Scott Kretzer presents jazz recital

ADRIAN, Mich. - Adrian College Percussion Professor Scott Kretzer will present a jazz recital on Monday, Oct. 25, at 8 P.M. in Dawson Auditorium. Kretzer will be joined by saxophonist Chris Collins, pianist Cliff Monear, and bassist Jeff Halsey – three of the Midwest’s finest jazz musicians. The quartet will perform musical selections by Thelonious Monk, Victor Young, Roberto Menescal and Cliff Monear.

A graduate of the University of Kentucky with a degree in music education, Scott Kretzer is a freelance percussionist and teacher in the Northwest Ohio/Southeastern Michigan area. He teaches applied percussion at Adrian College, and has taught jazz drum set at the University of Toledo and applied percussion at Siena Heights University. 

Kretzer also runs a private studio through the Toledo School for the Arts. He performs regularly with the Scott Gwinnell Jazz Orchestra, Carl Cafagna and North Star Jazz, The Sixth Edition, and the Murphy’s Place Jazz Orchestra. He has performed with many top jazz artists including Clark Terry, Delfayo Marsalis, David “Fathead Newman,” Shirley Jordan, and Jon Hendricks.

Kretzer was inducted into the Yamaha Young Artist Program in 1991 and has performed recitals, clinics, and master classes throughout the United States and Japan.

Chris Collins is a professional jazz woodwind player who has toured throughout Japan, South Africa, Europe and North America as the leader of his own ensembles and as a featured soloist. In 2007-08, Collins performed his original works in seven countries on four continents. He has played professionally with artists including the Phil Collins Big Band, Doc Severinsen, Mel Torme, Michael Feinstein, Lou Rawls and the Detroit Symphony Orchestra.

Currently on staff at Wayne State University, Cliff Monear has performed with international stars of many different musical genres. As a professional pianist, shows with such luminaries as Hal Linden, Bernadette Peters, Eddie Daniels, The Temptations, and many more - represent the wide variety of musical styles common in his workweek.

Monear is also a first call accompanist for the finest jazz vocalist and instrumentalists in the Midwest. Jeff Halsey is professor and director of Jazz Studies at Bowling Green State University. He teaches jazz history and improvisation, as well as applied jazz bass studies; has toured Europe and the United States performing with such artists as Tommy Flanagan, Jimmie Forrest, Clark Terry, Jay McShann, J.C. Heard, Dizzy Gillespie, Arturo Sandoval and Stanley Cowell; has recordings on the Azica, Cadence, Cimp, Hiroko, Steeplechase and Timeless labels with artists such as Jack Schantz, Chip Stephens, Ernie Krivda, J.C. Heard, Stanley Cowell and the Cadence Jazz All Stars; member of the Faculty Jazz Quartet.

This concert is free and open to the public. Dawson Auditorium is located on the Adrian College campus on Charles St.