Ohio State will host musicians Mark Flugge and Andrew Woodson in the Jazz Faculty Concert at 8 p.m. Oct. 25 in the Weigel Auditorium.
Flugge, a pianist, and Woodson, a bassist, will perform together to entertain and amaze their audience with their own personal expression of jazz. The concert will include original pieces by Flugge and Woodson as well as pieces from Clare Fischer, Thelonious Monk and Billy Strayhorn.
Flugge is an alumnus and current jazz faculty member at OSU. He knew from the age of 7 that he would play the piano but did not become acquainted with jazz until junior high school.
Flugge had experimented with traditional classical music as a child, but he found following the scripted notes tedious. When he discovered jazz, Flugge found a new and exciting way to play music.
Flugge saw that jazz was different from the previous styles he had encountered, and he said he “liked the freedom of expression.” In jazz, an artist is able to develop his own personality within the music, he said.
Flugge is an accomplished pianist with a solo piano CD, “In Love, In Blue.” His other two CDs are “February’s Promise,” which features Gene Bertoncini and Michael Moore, and “Familiarity.” Flugge is a versatile artist. He works not only on his solo career but also on many collaborations.
Flugge has been honored by the Ohio Arts Council three times for his jazz compositions. Flugge also runs clinics on jazz improvisation and jazz piano in the U.S. and Germany. He hopes to one day grace Carnegie Hall with his unique sounds and jazz stylings.
Woodson, like Flugge, is an alumnus and jazz faculty member at OSU. He is a skilled bassist who has recorded three CDs, “Scioto,” “Catalpa” and “Magically Delicious.”
Jazz was, and will always be, about the free spirit of music and the freedom of expression, but however free jazz music may be, it no longer has the freedom of venue it once did.
Flugge sees this downturn and recognizes that universities are now the main venue for jazz musicians. In the past, jazz clubs could be found across the United States.
But Flugge and Woodson persist in keeping the spirit of jazz alive in their faculty concert at OSU and their other shows across the nation. Concert tickets are $12 for general admission and $6 for seniors and students.
For more shows by Flugge, students can view Flugge and his trio, which includes bassist Dave DeWitt and drummer Dave Weinstock, in Flugge’s chamber jazz series at the Columbus Museum of Art. Students can also see Flugge and his trio at Hyde Park, where they have been playing every Friday night for nine years. The Hyde Park Prime Steakhouse is located at 1615 Old Henderson Rd. in Upper Arlington.
