Dean Eaves, a Frost School of Music alumnus who spent over three decades as a beloved band director and music educator who influenced hundreds of students, was widely mourned by the South Florida music community after losing his life to cancer at the age of 58.
“His teaching skills were amazing,” said George Booker-Tandy, a longtime friend who taught with Eaves at North Broward Preparatory School (NBPS) for over 20 years, where Eaves was an instructor and directed the jazz band in the school’s extensive music program. “He had his students writing a song every day. His music theory class was college-level. His most famous words, that everybody knew, were “go practice.” He was like the Pied Piper. Kids were always hanging out in his office.”
Raised in Broward County, Eaves studied music at Miami Dade College’s (MDC) Kendall Campus, before going on to study jazz saxophone in the Studio Music and Jazz program at what was then called the University of Miami School of Music for the 1988-1989 school year. But his musical ambitions were derailed when his father died at the end of that year, forcing Eaves to drop out to help support his mother and two younger sisters.
“We thought UM was the best school in the world,” said Stephan Kline, a close friend and fellow musician who went to middle and high school with Eaves. One of Eaves’ instructors at MDC was Frost School alumnus Ed Calle, a Latin GRAMMY-winning jazz saxophonist who played with a host of jazz, pop and Latin music stars.
“Everybody at the time knew it was the place to be,” Kline said. “The University of Miami was one of the top music schools in the country.”
His year at the Frost School helped give Eaves a crucial foundation that allowed him to teach arranging, scoring, composing, and music theory. A teacher who influenced him heavily was jazz pianist Vince Maggio, who was recruited by jazz program founder Jerry Coker and was a key Frost School faculty member for 34 years.
“He loved UM,” said Tandy. “All he did was talk about the UM players.” Eaves arranged for Calle and current jazz program chair John Daversa to teach workshops at NBPS.
Eaves spent the end of his life in hospice care, where he had plenty of company. “The times I visited him towards the end, there was a constant flow of students, from ten or five years ago or the present, coming to visit him,” said Kline.
Many of those students, as well as friends, fellow musicians and teachers from the South Florida music educator and band community, packed an hours-long Celebration of Life at All That Jazz café in Broward on July 21.
“Dean never said “My band did…” said the program for the event, which Tandy organized and for which he raised almost $8,000. “He always said, 'My students did…” Because every accomplishment belonged to them.”
The attendees took turns playing and paying tribute to Eaves. Among them was his former NBPS student Briana Hanks, who performed “Girls Can Swing Too,” which Eaves wrote for her and another female student 11 years ago, to celebrate their talent and affirm their place in the male-dominated world of jazz bands.
Hanks told the crowd that when she first performed “Girls Can Swing,” she told Eaves she hated it. “Dean smiled and replied, 'Never say you hate something until you can play it perfectly,” Hanks said.
Now a band director herself, Hanks said she finds herself repeating those words to her own students. Eaves' comment turned out to be a valuable lesson in curiosity, discipline, and humility, becoming part of her own teaching philosophy and extending his influence to another generation.
Eaves is survived by his wife Jamie Boyett, his sister Dawn, and their children.
