A Newhall, Iowa native, Chad Eby is a life-long student of music. Born in 1973, he began playing clarinet at the age of 11 and began studying the saxophone a year later. He went on to study music at Luther College, completing his degree in Jazz Studies at the University of North Texas, then earning his master’s degree in Saxophone Performance from The Ohio State University. While in Ohio he released his first album, “Triptych” (2001), gaining critical acclaim from AllAboutJazz.com and fellow saxophonists Branford Marsalis and Wessel Anderson. His second album, “Broken Shadows”, was released in February of 2010, featuring Steve Haines, Jason Marsalis, Doug Wamble, and Branford Marsalis. His newest release, “The Sweet Shel Suite: Music Inspired by Shel Silverstein”, received a four star rating from DownBeat magazine, and features his working quartet with trumpeter Brandon Lee, bassist Steve Haines, and drummer Daniel Faust.
A highly sought-after arranger, Chad’s professionally commissioned works have been performed or recorded by Bill Charlap with Kurt Elling, Wynton Marsalis with Willie Nelson and Norah Jones, the Columbus Jazz Orchestra, the Dallas Jazz Orchestra, the L.A. All-Star Big Band, and his own group, the Piedmont Triad Jazz Orchestra. To date, he has arranged over 125 works for big band, small jazz combos, and chamber groups. As well, he is credited with over 50 original compositions, and has won jazz composer awards from the Ohio Arts Council (2004) and the North Carolina Arts Council (2009).
Since 2006, Chad has taught in the Miles Davis Jazz Studies Program at UNC-Greensboro, where he directs Jazz Ensemble I, teaches Jazz History and applied jazz lessons, and co-leads the Spartan Jazz Collective, a septet made up of faculty and a rotating cast of students. In 2015, he was honored with the UNCG School of Music, Theatre and Dance’s Outstanding Teaching Award. Eby is a D’Addario Woodwinds Performing Artist, a clinician for Jazz at Lincoln Center’s Essentially Ellington program, and has been a featured guest artist/clinician at universities across the country. He lives in Greensboro, NC with his wife Carmen, who is a professional clarinetist, and
their two children.
