A recording built on the classic trio sound of vibraphone, organ and drums, released October 4, 2024. Music by Bobby Hutcherson, Steve Swallow, Larry Young, Pat Metheny and Chick Corea….music that inspires us.

Rusty Burge – vibraphone
Dan Karlsberg – organ
Steve Houghton – drums

These interviews revolve around indepth essays that Ed and Steve wrote about their backgrounds, influences, teaching styles, suggested listening, common problems on the drumset, and how to become a serious player. 

This project is about two friends (Ed Soph and Steve Houghton) both highly regarded drumset teachers, players, and authors, who recently retired from teaching. What became clear after numerous personal discussions was that education, as well as early and ongoing musical experiences shaped their teaching methods and lesson content, creating a very wide menu of drumming ideas and musical concepts. The common thread of course was always jazz drumming.

Featuring the AHA! Trio (Steve Houghton, Steve Allee and Jeremy Allen) with special guest Rusty Burge

This new lesson series will provide a unique, inside look at the workings of a jazz trio and quartet. In each of the project’s 12 episodes, you will be treated to an inspiring performance of an original tune or standard, followed by a discussion from each individual player on what they were thinking and hearing during that tune.

As you listen to each performer’s unique perspective, you’ll learn how they interpret the style and arrangement of the music, interact, build solos & support the other soloists, shape the tune, and contribute to the overall energy level and transparency of the tune. As is often the case, hearing the insights of the other musicians can help shape our approach just as much (or more) than focusing on the view from our ‘chair’ in the ensemble!

In this new educational series from Vic Firth, we take you “Inside the Studio” of some of the world’s top instructors to give you a peek into the time-proven curriculum that has motivated and educated generations of successful teachers and performers!

In our first series, we take you inside the jazz drumming studio of Steve Houghton from Indiana University’s Jacobs School of Music. In each video, Mr. Houghton will describe the curriculum segment, which will follow with a lesson & demonstration from a student from his studio. With each student’s presentation, you’ll see the immediate application of curriculum to the real world of performance and explanation!

Whether you’re an educator or student, you’ll be sure to benefit from the concepts and lessons from this series!