Photographer:
Robin Scholz/The News-Gazette
Melissa Merli
Getting Personal is an email Q&A with a local personality. Here, Melissa Merli chats with jazz pianist, educator, clinician, recording artist and University of Illinois School of Music Professor Chip Stephens of Pesotum. Getting Personal normally appears first in print, in Sunday editions of The News-Gazette. For the current installment,Meg Dickinson's blog has invited other bloggers to participate.
What time do you typically get up? What do you do the first hour of the morning?
6:30 or 7ish. The summer is different — a bit more varied. I simply try to get up!
What did you have for lunch today? Where? With whom?
Turtle thighs and French fries. At home with my young citizens, Cole and Clay.
Best high school memory?
Getting kicked out of the Christian school because my jazz career took off when I was removed from the clutches of liturgical song — though I love that music, too!
Tell me about your favorite pair of shoes.
I'd love a pair made from hemp, but a good friend of mine had a pair puked on by a drunk guy in Copenhagen. I like Betulas by Birkenstock for the summer; warm whatever for winter.
What does a perfect Sunday afternoon include?
Going to hear one of my many gifted students perform. Fishing, hunting, the outdoors. Time with my boys, Cole and Clay, and my companion, Ace.
Was there one book you read as a child that you still cherish? Own? Read?
One book I cherish? I didn't find this book as a child but as a young man: "The Art Spirit" by Robert Henri. A deep, deep, great book for any visual or performing artist in any genre.
Where on Earth are you dying to go? Why?
Alaska! I've played in 49 of our 50 states, but not Alaska. I don't know if they dig jazz up there, but I'd try to dazzle 'em with some Eskimo jazz.
Tell me about your favorite pet.
I love any animal and fear none, except grizzlies, mountain lions, sharks and mink because my dad had his upper lip bitten off by one.
Have you discovered as you matured that you are becoming like one of your parents? Which one and how?
I'm proud to say that I'm like both of my parents, John and Rachel Stephens. My mother introduced me to music and the church. She's a beautiful woman, strong, a great leader. My father gave me his love of the outdoors, his great humor, his work ethic. Both taught me values, morals and how to act and found the best teachers for me and most importantly — encouraged me at every point in my life! They are true gems!
What would you order for your last meal?
That's deep, Melissa! I don't like to think of my last supper but since you've asked: turtle thighs and French fries, again, with coleslaw and hot sauce.
What can you not live without?
Touching the piano! It is the one thing in my life that no one can ever take away from me.
Who do you have on your iPod?
Eminem — just kidding, though I dig him — mostly. Jazz and classical.
What's the happiest memory of your life?
There are several, but playing for the George Bush Sr. presidential inauguration in January 1988 is one. It was my audition with the world-famous Woody Herman Orchestra.
If you could host a dinner party with any three living people in the world, whom would you invite?
A global-warming expert with exact, relevant data on it. Rod Blagojevich, and I'd like to perform a frontal lobotomy on him before he opened his mouth and ate dinner. A justice from the Supreme Court to encourage them to make divorce illegal except in cases of abuse in its various forms, and adultery, and to make shared parenting regarding children THE ABSOLUTE LAW, except in cases of abuse.
What's the best piece of advice you've ever been given?
From the legendary Maynard Ferguson: He said to me, "I would rather fail really going for it — whatever it is — than to succeed playing it safe — being prim and proper." Indeed, being prim and proper has yielded nothing for me.
What's your best piece of advice?
Success is determined by the following things: showing up on time; if you say you're going to do something do it with a good attitude otherwise don't do it at all; be ready for the window of opportunity; be produceable and adaptable; shut up and listen; learn, work hard and don't be afraid to try!
What was your first job, and how much did you make an hour?
With the Glenn Miller Orchestra. I was 19 and made $375 a week.
What was a pivotal career decision in your career, and how did you arrive at it?
Never moving to New York City. I've played there many, many times over the years, but my life has never been just about the music. It's about a variety and quality of life that I didn't think I could sustain if I moved to New York.
Do you have a bad habit? What is it?
I've been plagued by the same self-indulgent tendencies as many of us. When I was a young man, I did all the things that many of the young men I ran with did, but now, high-speed moderation!
How do you handle a stressful situation?
It's like power steering. You have to keep going. I try to breathe and see my life in the aggregate. Faith in God helps.
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