Steve Snyder and Friends perform 'Prime Vintage' music Wednesday at Gobin

Monday, July 23, 2018

"Prime Vintage," a group including Steve Snyder, the organist and pianist who heads Jazz Studies at DePauw University, performs Wednesday as the Greencastle Summer Music Festival continues its series of weekly free concerts.

Joel Tucker, guitar, Sophie Faught, saxophone, and Kenny Phelps, drums, fill out the group performing at 7:30 p.m. in Gobin Memorial United Methodist Church.

Steve Snyder to perform on piano for Greencastle Summer Music Festival concert Wednesday.

The festival is funded by tax-deductible donations from local individuals and businesses, including the Inn at DePauw, the main corporate sponsor. Support also comes from an endowment at the Putnam County Community Foundation. (Contributions can be made at www.greencastlesummermusic.org.)

"Fair week is a fun and busy time for many of us," said Eric Edberg, professor of music emeritus at DePauw, the festival's founding artistic director. "When we stated the festival in 2005, we thought about not having a concert during the fair.

"But it turns out many people find an indoor, air-conditioned event to be a great break," Edberg added, "especially if the weather has been hot and humid. Steve and his friends are a great addition to our multi-genre series of concerts dedicated to bringing the community together with friends making music for friends."

Snyder explained his involvement.

"The group has taken on the name Prime Vintage," Snyder said. "We will be playing some music that comes from the popular music repertoire more so than the music that jazz musicians typically play. So the name of the group refers to choosing music of the last 40 years that are not only great songs to listen to, but are also rich with musical possibilities for the musicians to explore."

A pianist and organist who maintains an active playing schedule locally, nationally and internationally, Snyder was selected as one of 66 pianists from all over the world to compete in the Martial Solal International Jazz Piano Competition held in Paris, France, in October 2002.

He has performed in France, Portugal, Brazil, Sweden, Taiwan, throughout the U.S. and Canada. Performance credits include having played with artists such as Randy Brecker, Jerry Bergonzi, Victor Goines, Landau Eugene Murphy Jr., Dick Sisto, Eric Alexander, Brad Goode, Robben Ford, Chris Maresh and many others.

The Austin Chronicle has called his work "superb." Seemagazine.com wrote, "incredible solos ... particularly from the not-so-surprisingly sensational Steven Snyder." Gapplegatemusicreview.blogspot has noted that his work "goes beyond the Jimmie Smith, et al, mode into a post-middle-period-Larry-Young sort of feel," and organ impresario Pete Fallico says Snyder can "get around those keyboards nicely and solo magnificently at both at slow and quick tempos."

He has contributed articles to the "Teaching Music Through Performance" series, and JazzEd magazine, as well as presented clinics nationally and internationally.

The Greencastle Summer Music Festival will continue next week on Aug. 1 with internationally acclaimed pianist Taka Kigawa playing an all-Debussy program.

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