TICKETS are $10 General/$5 Student. End time is estimate.

Concerts and events made possible, in part, with support from the Wells Philanthropic Services provided by grants from the John, Anna, and Martha Jane Fields Memorial Trust Foundation and the Florence V. Carroll Charitable Trust, The Esther and George Jaruga Charitable Foundation, the Community Foundation of St. Joseph County's ArtsEverywhere initiative, and the Arts Project Support Grant and Arts Recovery Grant through the Indiana Arts Commission.

“Eric is the real deal! A truly world class jazz trumpeter. Eric maintains a broad lexicon of both classic and contemporary straight ahead trumpet style. Strong, assured technique, a hip dark sound on the axe, expressive without gimmicks” — Brian Lynch - Two time Grammy© Award Winning Trumpeter

Enjoy a night of high energy Hard Bop Jazz as The Eric Jacobson Quintet plays jazz standards from the greats like Horace Silver, Lee Morgan, Freddie Hubbard as well as exploring some of their own originals throughout the night.

Eric Jacobson - trumpet

Geof Bradfield - tenor 

Jordan Christianson - piano

Matt Ferguson - bass

Todd Howell - drums

youtube clip https://youtu.be/BQyRzWHCo8U

“Eric is the real deal! A truly world class jazz trumpeter. Eric maintains a broad lexicon of both classic and contemporary straight ahead trumpet style. Strong, assured technique, a hip dark sound on the axe, expressive without gimmicks” — Brian Lynch - Two-time Grammy© Award Winning Trumpeter

Jazz trumpeter Eric Jacobson is quickly gaining a national reputation. He is in high demand as a performer, teacher, and clinician.

Majoring in Music at the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater from 1993-1997, Eric studied trumpet with Dr. Frank Hanson, and Grammy Award winning Jazz Director Steve Wiest. Since then, Eric has performed with Grammy© Award Winners Phil Woods, Benny Golson, Brian Lynch, Tito Puente Jr., and Eric Benet. Eric is a top call trumpeter for high-profile gigs in Milwaukee, Madison, and Chicago. Eric performs in the windy city at the Green Mill, Jazz Showcase, Winter's Jazz Club, and Andy's Jazz Club with some of the top Chicago groups including The Chicago Jazz Orchestra, Chicago Yestet, Bakerzmillion, and Mark Colby's Quintet.

In 2019 and 2021, Eric toured the east coast leading his own group in South Carolina, North Carolina, Virginia, D.C., Philly, and New York. This group featured world-class musicians Bruce Barth and John Swana.

Eric also stays busy in the recording studio. His CD, Combinations was released in 2018 under Grammy Award winner Brian Lynch's jazz label Holistic Music Works. Jazz critic Scott Yanow gave the album a 4-star review in Downbeat and wrote, “Combinations, [is] trumpeter Eric Jacobson's third CD as a leader.... This is a major straight ahead jazz release that is certain to gain much attention."

Discover, by The Eric Jacobson Quintet, will be released in 2022 under the Origin Record Label, and features Eric Jacobson on trumpet, Bruce Barth on piano, Dennis Carroll on bass, George Fludas on drums, and Geof Bradfield on tenor sax.

A second CD by the Chicago jazz sextet BakerzMillion, with Eric on trumpet, will be released in June of 2022 on the Delmark Records label.

Eric is as dedicated to teaching jazz as he is to playing jazz. His teaching experience includes Education Director at Milwaukee Jazz Institute (2019 – present), Jazz Education Network member (2018 – present), and he’s presented jazz workshops at colleges and high schools across the country (2021-2022). Schools included Virginia Commonwealth University, University of Wisconsin-Whitewater, University of North Carolina at Pembroke, South Carolina James Island High School. He is the recipient of Milwaukee Civic Music’s 2022 Certificate of Excellence in Studio Music Instruction.

A testimonial from Brian Lynch, Two-time Grammy© Award Winning Trumpeter: "Eric is the real deal! a truly world-class jazz trumpeter with a gift to inspire, motivate and teach students of all ages with dramatic results. By sharing his own passion for the music with his students, he instills that ‘fire in the belly’ that makes great musicians; and in instilling a love of practice and a robust work ethic, he equips his students with the tools to excel for a lifetime. And most importantly, he provides a compelling example of excellence for his students by his own brilliant playing. The word is out in the jazz world about the accomplishment of Eric Jacobson as both player and educator, and he's making that world a better place with his great work!"

“Geof Bradfield has drawn plenty of praise for his work as a reed soloist, and it’s all deserved… But in the last few years, Bradfield has made just as much impact with his precise and colorful writing, in compositions that evoke a vivid sense of place through the same mixture of detail and sweep.” Neil Tesser

Geof Bradfield’swork as a composer and performer on saxophones and clarinets embraces intersections of modern jazz and other streams of African Diaspora music, drawing inspiration from Charlie Parker, Melba Liston, Lead Belly, Shona mbira music, and Gullah spirituals. Born in Houston, TX, Bradfield has performed throughout North America, Europe, Russia, Asia, Africa and the Middle East, sharing the stage with artists such as Randy Weston, Dana Hall, Clark Sommers, Brian Blade, Anna Webber, Orrin Evans, Jeff Parker, Matt Ulery, and Ryan Cohan. His work is featured on 50+ CDs including eight albums as a leader that have garnered critical accolades from the New York Times, Los Angeles Times, Chicago Tribune and NPR. Nate Chinen describes his Yes, and…Music for Nine Improvisers (Delmark Records) as “an album of chamber-esque color and oft-surprising texture, because Bradfield is the sort of composer who creates room for departure.” He has received grants and awards from Chamber Music America, Doris Duke Charitable Foundation, DCASE, Illinois Arts Council, and the Mellon Foundation. The Downbeat Critics Poll has named him a Rising Star Tenor Saxophonist and Arranger multiple years.

A committed educator, Bradfield is Professor of Jazz Studies at Northern Illinois University and has given master classes and lectures at the Brubeck Institute, the Manhattan School of Music, the Jazz Education Network conference, and numerous other national and international venues.

Acoustic and electric bassist Matt Ferguson has been active on the Chicago jazz scene since 1991. A native Chicagoan, Matt attended Lane Tech and DePaul University where he studied jazz and classical bass performance. He has been an in-demand sideman since the age of 21, performing regularly with artists such as Lin Halliday, Jodie Christian, Ron Dewar, Geof Bradfield, Mike Allemana, Pat Mallinger, The Model Citizens and George Freeman. He was a regular member of Von Freeman’s quartet from 2003 until Vonski’s death in 2012, playing every Tuesday night at the famed New Apartment Lounge on 75th Street. Matt has gigged with numerous players of international renown such as Steve Coleman, Eric Alexander, Julian Priester, Mickey Roker, Chico Freeman, and Arturo Sandoval. He, drummer Gerald Dowd and guitarist Mike Allemana currently co-lead a free-funk band called The Regulators.

Jordan Christianson is a pianist and teacher based in Chicago, IL. He has performed at the Montreux Jazz Festival and received BM and MM degrees in jazz performance from Minnesota State University Moorhead and the University of Miami, respectively. He has performed with Stefon Harris, Tierney Sutton, Kate Reid, the New York Voices, Peter Erskine, Marvin Stamm, Ben Allison, and Allen Vizzutti.

Todd Howell has been a professional drummer and educator in Chicago for over 15 years. He received his Bachelor's in music from Northern Illinois University. Since then, he has performed with many of the city's top jazz artists such as Ryan Cohan, Ron Perrillo, Bobby Broom, The Chicago Jazz Orchestra, vocalist Kimberly Gordon and with internationally known jazz luminaries such as Bob Mintzer and Brian Lynch. He has also recorded with artists such as Fareed Haque, Juli Wood, Jeff Morrison, and guitarist Kyle Asche's acclaimed debut recording 'The Hook Up' on Origin Records.