Essentially Ellington Regional Jazz Festival
Featuring BYU Synthesis under the direction of Benjamin Nichols
Featuring Linda May Han Oh
7:30 PM | FEB. 21, 2026 | CONCERT HALL | MUSIC BUILDING
It Don’t Mean a Thing
Goodbye Pork Pie Hat
Shadow Dance
Don’t Get Around Much Anymore
AWARDS CEREMONY
Circles
Dissonance in Blues
Ebony
Have You Met Miss Jones?
Midnight
Three and One
Deep Sea Dancers
Hatchling
Moanin’
Linda May Han Oh
Based in New York City, Grammy Award–winning Linda May Han Oh is a bassist/composer who has performed and recorded with artists such as Pat Metheny, Kenny Barron, Joe Lovano, Dave Douglas, Terri Lyne Carrington, Steve Wilson, Geri Allen, and Vijay Iyer . Born in Malaysia and raised in Boorloo (Perth), Western Australia, she has received many awards, including a 2022 Deutscher Jazzpreis, and she was voted the 2018–2021, 2023–2025 Bassist of the Year by the Jazz Journalists Association, as well as the 2022 Bassist of the Year in JazzTimes . Linda also was voted 2019 Bassist of the Year in Hothouse Magazine and was the 2020 APRA Award recipient for Best New Jazz Work . In 2023 she received the prestigious Herb Alpert Award for music, and in 2024 she received an honorary doctorate from the Manhattan School of Music . Linda has had five releases as a leader that have received critical acclaim, including her latest—a quintet album entitled The Glass Hours on Biophilia Records . Her latest commissions include “Littoral Tales,” a solo piano piece in two movements for Gloria Cheng, and “Ephemeral Echoes,” written for percussion trio and piano trio, as well as “Mirrors and Shadows,” written for piano and bass duo . Linda has written for large and small ensembles as well as for film, participating in the Sundance Labs at Skywalker Ranch . Most recently she scored Sorority Story by filmmaker Kathryn Smith Pyle . Linda also composed music for a collaborative film project with nonprofit Hope Raisers, based in Korogocho, Kenya, by Kizito Gamba and contributed music to his latest documentary, Calling the Shots, codirected by Kore Abong, about aspiring African women in the film industry .
Currently Linda is working on a commission entitled "Invisible Threads" for the Melbourne Jazz Festival 2025 .
Linda is currently associate professor at the Berklee College of Music . Linda was featured on bass in the 2020 Pixar movie Soul under the musical direction of Jon Batiste (The Late Show with Stephen Colbert) alongside drummer Roy Haynes, and was the model for a character in the film—bassist Miho .
“Her innovative range and stellar improvisations have made [her] one of the most dynamic rising stars in jazz today . ” —The Wall Street Journal
"A major bass voice arrives ." —JazzTimes
"On Walk Against Wind . . .[Oh] takes a long stride forward as a bandleader and composer . The writing is intricate but flowing, tailored to the articulate grace of her band ." —WBGO Take Five
“Engrossing, shapeshifting… [her] vibrant tone, close control and confident attack immediately established why she is such an in-demand performer .” —The Financial Times
"One of the most fluid and instinctive bass players in New York City ." —Something Else! Reviews
Marcus Printup
Born and raised in Conyers, Georgia, Marcus Printup’s first musical experiences came from hearing the fiery gospel music his parents sang in church . He would later discover jazz as a senior in high school . Marcus attended Georgia State University, then transferred to the University of North Florida on a music scholarship . It was during his studies at UNF that he competed and won the prestigious International Trumpet Guild Jazz Trumpet Competition .
In 1991 Mr . Printup’s life would change when he met his mentor and friend-to-be, the incomparable pianist Marcus Roberts . Mr . Roberts introduced him to world-renowned trumpeter Wynton Marsalis, which in time led to the invitation to join the Jazz At Lincoln Center Orchestra in 1993 . Since then, Marcus has established and held third chair in the trumpet section and contributes regularly to the orchestra as an arranger and composer .
Among many others, Mr . Printup has performed/recorded with Betty Carter (an inductee into Ms . Carter’s first Jazz Ahead class in 1994), Dianne Reeves, Eric Reed, Cyrus Chestnut, Wycliffe Gordon, and Marcus Roberts .
Mr . Printup has led multiple recordings on several major record jazz labels:
Blue Note Records
Song for the Beautiful Woman, Unveiled, Hub Songs
Nagel Heyer Records
The New Boogaloo
Steeplechase Records
Peace In The Abstract, Bird of Paradise, London Lullaby, Ballads All Night, A Time for Love, Homage, Desire, Lost, Young Bloods, and his latest, a collaboration with his wife, Riza Printup, Gentle Rain .
Mr . Printup is sought out internationally as an educator . He is involved with programs such as JALC’s Essentially Ellington Competition, the International Trumpet Guild, Montclair State University, and Betty Carter’s Jazz Ahead at the Kennedy Center .
In 2019 Marcus and Riza established RiMarcable Music For Arts & Education (a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization) to enrich and educate young audiences through the music of jazz .
Together, the Printups created RiMarcable Publications LLC, through which they publish their children’s books and arrangements for big band and jazz combos .
Among many accolades, Mr . Printup is proud to have been granted a proclamation (2005) declaring August TwentySecond as Marcus Printup Day in his hometown of Conyers, Georgia .
Dave Hammond
Mr . Hammond delivers passion into the work that he puts in as a band teacher . It’s crazy how quickly and efficiently he is able to get a band to sound while making his classes fun to be in . If there is a section in a piece that needs work, he’ll work on it until he gets that section to its best . He is also very versatile in conducting not only the Wind Ensemble and Concert Band but
sometimes the Full Orchestra and the Jazz Workshop Orchestra with the same passion, energy, and level of efficiency that he puts into the other ensembles . With the help of practicing artists that he brings in, he is able to succeed more . When these bands perform under his direction, he never fails to blow the audience away .
Ray Smith
Ray Smith is one of those relatively rare individuals who is an excellent performer and an excellent teacher at the same time . He taught at Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah, as the director of jazz studies and professor of saxophone . His jazz big band, Synthesis, has received national and international recognition by winning many jazz festival competitions, such as the Pacific Coast Collegiate Jazz Festival, the Lionel Hampton Jazz Festival, and those sponsored by the International Association for Jazz Education . Synthesis has performed in some of the great international jazz festivals, such as the Montreux Jazz Festival in Switzerland, the North Sea Jazz Festival in Holland, the Antibes Jazz Festival in the French Riviera, the Riga Jazz Festival in Latvia, the Pori Jazz Festival in Finland, the Kongsberg Jazz Festival in Norway, the Umbria Jazz Festival in Perugia, Italy, the Edinburgh Jazz Festival in Scotland, the Copenhagen Jazz Festival in Denmark, the Wigan and Birmingham Jazz Festivals in England, the San Sebastian Jazz Festival in Spain, and the Loule Jazz Festival in Portugal, to name a few . The band has toured Japan and China and blazed new trails into Siberia in 1998 . In 2013 Synthesis was named the Top University Jazz Big Band in the country by the DownBeat Magazine Student Music Awards, and the band performed at the Jazz Education Network Conference in Dallas .
Ray has also performed at the World Saxophone Congresses in Bangkok, Thailand, and St Andrews, Scotland, and has done a residency at the University of Manila in the Philippines . His students in both BYU’s big band and the Caleb Chapman Crescent Super Band perform on JodyJazz mouthpieces .
As a performer, Smith is equally at home in either classical or jazz-related styles and is adept at all five of the woodwind instruments: flute, oboe, clarinet, bassoon, and saxophone . He also performs and records on the Yamaha WX7 Midi Electronic Wind Instrument and the AKAI E .W .I . and often plays recorders, penny whistles, and other ethnic flutes in the recording studio . He has over 200 CD credits and has recorded on many film scores and television themes and jingles, such as The Sandlot, Mi Familia, The Swan Princess, Good Morning America, The Today Show, the Ricki Lake show, Buick, Chevy, etc ., and many Canadian and German television and radio themes . Dr . Smith performs periodically with the Utah Symphony and the Tabernacle Choir at Temple Square and is a regular with the Utah Saxophone Quartet and Q’d Up, a jazz quintet, as well as the jazz saxophone quartet FOUR .
Smith also does clinics and performances at colleges and high schools and adjudicates at jazz festivals . In the summers, he teaches at various jazz workshops, including the Birch Creek Jazz Camp in Wisconsin, where he received the Woody Herman Award for musical excellence and professionalism . In 1998 he was given the Voice of Jazz Award for the State of Utah, and in 2008 he was recognized by the International Association for Jazz Education as the first Utah Jazz Master, a lifetime achievement award “for profound contributions and virtuoso performance in the field of jazz in Utah .” He has also served on both the Utah Arts Council and the Orem Arts Council . Ray Smith is JodyJazz Mouthpiece Artist, a Rico Reed Artist, and a Cannonball Saxophone Artist .
Education: DM, Woodwinds Performance, Indiana University, 1982 . MM, Woodwinds Performance, Indiana University, 1976 . BM, Music Education, Brigham Young University, 1975 .
Braun Khan
Braun Khan is professional practice associate of double bass and jazz studies at Utah State University . He has bachelor’s and master’s degrees in bass performance from Central Michigan University and a doctor of arts in jazz studies and bass performance from the University of Northern Colorado . After completing his master’s degree, he taught courses in jazz theory at Central Michigan University and served as community outreach coordinator for the School of Music . While at the University of Northern Colorado, he was a teaching assistant in both the jazz studies area and the classical bass studio, was assistant to the managing producer of the UNC/Greeley Jazz Festival, and served as interim jazz bass professor in fall 2014 . He has also taught since 2013 on the JamPlay online instructional website, one of the largest online instructional sites in the world, and in the summer he teaches at the Rocky Ridge Music Center jazz camp in Estes Park, Colorado .
Ryan Nielsen
Known for his “breathtaking” sound as a "musician of the highest order,” Ryan Nielsen is a rare trumpet artist equally at home in classical music, jazz, and contemporary styles . A devoted teacher and clinician, his popular YouTube channel, Ryan’s Trumpet, has thousands of subscribers from around the globe . His book, The Classroom Guide to Jazz Improvisation, written with his dear friend and mentor John McNeil, was
published in May 2024 by Oxford University Press and became a #1 New Release on Amazon . Graduates of Dr . Nielsen's studio are working throughout the United States and beyond . In addition to music careers, he loves helping students catalyze their music training for success in other fields . Nielsen has toured, performed, and/or recorded with the Kobie Watkins Grouptet (Origin Recording Artists), Ra Kalam Bob Moses (Smithsonian-recognized artist), Delfeayo Marsalis (National Endowment of the Arts Jazz Master), and the Summit Brass, to international acclaim . In 2024 Nielsen released an all-video solo album—Triple B Blues—with such jazz luminaries as Bobby Broom, Ryan Hanseler, Christian Dillingham, Will Ledbetter, and Kobie Watkins . Nielsen has presented at the International Conference on the Arts in Society, the International Trumpet Guild Conference, and the International Association of Jungian Studies; was a juror for the Carmine Caruso International Jazz Trumpet Solo Competition; and was recently named the jazz editor of the International Trumpet Guild Journal . Nielsen has an abiding interest in trauma therapy as well and is currently earning his certification in BodyDreaming: An Approach to the Treatment of Developmental Trauma .
Saxophones
Jonathan Crane
Shion Sonomura
Marty Bodell
Hyrum Baird
Eli Thomas
Trumpets
Bryant Jordan
Abe Smith
Luke Gunnerson
Ila Goodrich
Miles Olson
Trombones
Graeme Clavton
Luke Liechty
Ki Bowden
Daniel White
Rhythm Section
Sam Handley, guitar
Jackson Olsen, piano
Asher Robinson, bass
Jacob Ward, drums
Vocals
Hanna Eyre
Trevor Smith
