Dr. Charles Argersinger
My early good fortunes in jazz began in January 1979, when I was asked to write an arrangement of Waltz for Debby for the Bill Evans trio, which they played with the University of Minnesota big band for a crowd of 5,000. It was an honor to get to know Bill and the trio. Around that time I also did some arranging for a show staged by Dick van Dyke in Phoenix. In subsequent years, I played for a wide range of stars at the Phoenix Playboy Club and at the Coliseum there, as well for numerous commercials in Chicago. In more modern times, I’ve been honored to write for a truly great a cappella vocal group, Voice Trek. And one of the things
I’m most proud of as a jazz educator is having convinced Lewis Nash to get out of business school and become a professional drummer. Over the years, Jim Linahon, without whom I might have gone nowhere, has performed and recorded nearly 100 of my works. Then there is my dear friend Sunny Wilkinson. She has been my close confident for decades and has recorded my charts with the likes of Rob McConnell’s band. Finally, on the “legit” side of things, the Chicago Symphony has recorded several of my works, and in 1995, I won the United Nations Prize for a new brass quartet on the occasion of that organization’s 20th anniversary.
It’s been a great life! Dr. Argersinger is a wonderful Pianist versed in all syles of music and had a fabulous jazz program at Cal state Bakersfield and Depaul Univ. In Chicago. His last teaching position was full professor at Washington State Univ. as a Composition Instructor.