TICKETS are $10 General/$5 Student.

Chicago-based tenor saxophonist Jarod Bufe’s quartet (formed in 2014) specializes in performing a repertoire of his original modern jazz compositions. Tonight’s concert features music written for the group in the last year and includes several pieces dedicated to Bufe’s close friends and family. The material draws musical inspiration from the harmonic palette and melodic structures developed by tenor great Joe Henderson. The quartet will augment its original program with interpretations of some of Henderson’s best known compositions, as well as pieces from Bufe’s 2018 debut recording entitled “New Spaces” (Origin Records). 

Jarod Bufe - tenor saxophone

Tim Stine - guitar

Sam Peters  - bass

Todd Howell - drums

website jarodbufe.com

Saxophonist Jarod Bufe has been active in the realms of woodwind repair and music performance since moving to Chicago in 1996. Soon after arriving, he established himself as one of the first-call saxophone repairmen in the area, while performing primarily as a section player in local big bands. In the early 2010s, his affiliation with the musician-curated Ratchet Series at the Skylark in Pilsen reinvigorated his longtime interest in original composition and improvisation in small group contexts. Today, Jarod maintains an active repair practice—counting many of Chicago's finest professional musicians and music educators among his loyal clientele—while regularly performing his original music with his quartet and trio at such area venues as FitzGerald's, the Whistler, and Elastic Arts. His principal collaborators to date include guitarist Tim Stine, bassist Matt Ulery, and drummer Jon Deitemyer, as well as bassists Anton Hatwich and Christian Dillingham, and drummers Quin Kirchner and Frank Rosaly. New Spaces, the debut album by the Jarod Bufe Quartet, was released by Origin Records in 2018.

Guitarist and composer Tim Stine has been an active member of Chicago’s dynamic jazz and improvised music communities since 2008. A native of North Dakota, Stine studied music at Minnesota State University Moorhead and CCM in Cincinnatti before moving to Chicago where his highly original compositional style and unique instrumental voice soon became integral features of the city’s renowed progressive music scene. As a bandleader, Stine has focused his energies on two projects in which he plays acoustic guitar: a trio with bassist Anton Hatwich and drummer Frank Rosaly; and a quartet with alto saxophonist Nick Mazzarella, bassist Matt Ulery, and drummer Quin Kirchner. These ensembles specialize in performing and recording Stine’s original material and have released albums on the record labels Astral Spirits (Tim Stine Trio, Trim Stine Trio, 2016) and Clean Feed (Knots, Tim Stine Quartet, 2019). As a sideman, Stine primarily plays electric guitar and has contributed to numerous Chicago-based bands, most notably the Nick Mazzarella Quintet and the Jarod Bufe Quartet. Apart from these working groups, Stine frequently collaborates with some of Chicago’s most celebrated improvisers including drummer Mike Reed, bassists Jason Roebke and Matt Lux, and cornetist Josh Berman.

In addition to performing, Stine has worked since 2015 as a co-curator of the Ratchet Series, a monthly concert series currently in residence at Café Mustache in Chicago’s Logan Square neighborhood.

“Devising an angular and melodic guitar style, Stine is an exciting new voice on the scene.” — Paul Acquaro, The Free Jazz Collective

“Tim Stine plays acoustic guitar and writes knotty, seesawing lines that arrive in sudden rushes of activity—he often follows tangles of tightly clustered notes with measures of silence, sounding like Derek Bailey if he'd decided he wanted to swing again.” — Peter Margasak, Chicago Reader

Samuel Peters is a jazz bassist and music educator based in Chicago, Illinois. He recently completed his Masters in jazz studies at DePaul University, where he studied with Dennis Carroll. Additionally, he has recorded on four albums, toured internationally with groups including the Roy McGrath Quartet, as well as The Old Style Sextet, and maintains a healthy performance schedule in and around Chicago with groups including: the Dennis Luxion Trio, the Charles Heath Quartet, and the Richard Johnson Quartet. In addition to running a private lessons studio, Sam has been the Jazz Bass instructor at Adlai E. Stevenson High School since 2018.

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. He currently teaches at Chicago area schools including Lemont High School, St. Francis College Prep in Wheaton, and Elmhurst College.

Concerts and events made possible, in part, with support from the Wells Fargo Philanthropic Services Private Trust Foundations, which include grants from the Stanley A. and Flora P. Clark Memorial Community Trust Foundation (2020-2021; 2022-2023 seasons), the John, Anna, and Martha Jane Fields Memorial Trust Foundation (2021-2022; 2022-2023 seasons), and the Florence V. Carroll Charitable Trust (2021-2022; 2022-2023 season). Special concert event support provided by the Arts Midwest Grow, Invest, Gather (GIG) Fund grant (2022-2023 season). Activities are made possible in part by the Arts Organization Support (AOS), Indiana Arts Commission, a state agency, and the National Endowment for the Arts, a federal agency (2023-2024 season).

Concerts and events made possible, in part, with support from The Esther and George Jaruga Charitable Foundation (2020-2023 seasons).

The Student and Home Grown Series concerts made possible, in part, with support from the ArtsEverywhere Grant from the Community Foundation of St. Joseph County, and the Arts Project Support Grant and the Arts Recovery Grant through the Indiana Arts Commission.