Biography

Jody Espina is a highly regarded New York City Jazz saxophonist, clarinetist, and flutist with a unique and personal sound, and is in demand for sessions, jingles, Broadway pit orchestras, pop, R & B, and funk bands, as well as the thriving downtown New York avant-garde music scene. He is also a respected Jazz educator.

Teaching

He is the Director of the Jazz Department at the prestigious Hoff Barthelson Music School in Scarsdale, New York, where he teaches Jazz Theory, Improvisation, ensembles and private lessons. He is also adjunct professor of Saxophone and Clarinet at Concordia College in Bronxville, New York.

In Barcelona, Spain, Espina was Professor of saxophone, clarinet and flute, and the Director of the Big Band at the Aula de Musica i Moderna Jazz. While in Barcelona, Espina also taught at Taller de Musics and at The Lutier School of Fine Arts. Jody is a conductor in the musical sign language system called Sound Painting and has given seminars and workshops in Europe and the United States teaching it. (Sound Painting is a conducting/composing system created by New York composer Walter Thompson)

In June of 2003, he is slated to give a workshop on Sound Painting, in Beijing, China. Mr. Espina has been involved with the Grammys In The Schools Program, bringing performing artists to inner city schools and has written and performed "What Is Jazz?", an entertaining educational concert for children.

Jody's greatest goal in teaching, aside from sharing his musical knowledge and inspiring his students to be creative, is to carry on the tradition he learned from his teachers: kindness, warmth, patience and a love for his students.

Performing and Recording

Espina is a regular substitute in the orchestra of the Broadway hit, The Full Monty. He has been a featured soloist on the soundtracks to three Mirimax films, and a documentary about Holland entitled, "Sex, Drugs and Democracy," as well as Guiding Light, The Reading Rainbow, and television shows in Japan and Spain. He has recorded with Illuminatti, Brilliant Coroners, Feed The Meter, Splatt, and The Walter Thompson Orchestra, whom he plays with regularly. Tours include The Tommy Dorsey Orchestra and Illuminatti.

Espina has performed live with show business legends Mel Torme', Milton Berle, Patty Page and Country music icon, Eddie Arnold.
He has also performed with Jazz greats Louis Bellson, Don Alias, Lew Solof, Vic Juris, Harvie Swartz, Bob Moses, Dave Douglas, the Charlie Persip Superband, Rachel Z, Rolf Sturm, Rob Henke, and Mark Feldman.

Jody has played throughout Europe, Canada, the United States, and the Caribbean at major Jazz Festivals, opening for Jazz greats such as Chick Corea, Carmen McRae, Roy Haynes, Spyro Gyra, Joshua Redman, David Sanborn and many others. In 2001, Espina received a Meet the Composers grant for his composition, "The Universal Symphony", in which he conducted his professional quintet and fifteen of his students.

Musical Training

Jody has studied with the most revered masters of the saxophone, teachers that have shaped the course of Jazz itself, having taught almost all of the major saxophonists of our time. Charlie Parker, John Coltrane, Eric Dolphy, Sonny Stitt, Harry Carney, Michael Brecker, Joe Lavano and Jerry Coker are only a few of the influential players that have been taught by Jody's teachers: Joe Allard, Junie Ferrell, David Gross, Dave Liebman, Santy Runyon, Joe Viola , George Garzone, and the great pianist/composer Joanne Brackeen.

After majoring in classical clarinet for two years at the University of South Florida, Espina transferred to Berklee College of Music where he won a Phil Woods Performance Scholarship. While at Berklee, he had classes with master teachers: Herb Pomeroy, John LaPorta, Gary Burton, Mike Metheny, Phil Wilson, and Joe Viola. Espina graduated magne cum laude with a degree in Performance; his senior recital was broadcast on National Public Radio.

Professional Organizations/ Skills

Jody is a member of: IAJE, (International Association of Jazz Educators) WCSMA, (Westchester County Music Association), Local 802 (Musicians Union), and is moderately fluent in Spanish.