GENRE: Jazz

Chris Greene Quartet returns to Space on Sunday, July 23, with a special opening DJ set by DJ Pickled Beets & DJ Ian Dinsmor

Photo credit Janet Mami Takayama

The phrase "Space is the place" has long had multiple meanings for Chris Greene. These are, of course, the immortal words of jazz visionary Sun Ra, whose expansive influence shines bright on the tenor saxophonist. Space as a musical concept figures into Greene's uncluttered playing and arranging as well.

And SPACE is the name of the Evanston, Illinois club that is Greene's home away from home. In fact, the Evanston native lives only five minutes away. Having it so close has been a great comfort during the stressful days of the pandemic.

"It's a great place to play," he says. For him, the state of the art venue is also a great place to record. Though much of "PlaySPACE 2: Play Harder," his latest stellar effort with his longstanding quartet, was recorded there before the coronavirus struck, the high spirits and vibrancy of the performance – and the interaction with his devoted fans – speaks volumes on how important live shows are for artist and audience alike.

It will come as no surprise to fans of the super-eclectic Chris Greene Quartet, featuring pianist Damian Espinosa, bassist Marc Piane and drummer Steve Corley, that "Play Harder" draws from a wealth of sources. This is a band shifts easily from blues and swing to funk and hip-hop to rock and reggae. Previous albums have featured tunes by Madonna, John Coltrane, Sting, Charles Mingus and lounge music maestro Martin Denny.

Chris Greene was born on August 28, 1973 in Evanston, Illinois. His parents were big music fans, but there was only a smattering of jazz in the household. His mother blasted Motown at her monthly card parties. His father played a lot of and funk, soul and disco. Young Chris absorbed all manner of pop styles watching MTV.

He didn't know much about improvisation at first. "When I soloed it was with more nerve than skill," he said. As a self-styled "Joe Jazz Visionary," he had no great affinity for "older people's music. Cannonball [Adderley] was okay, but he was no Grover Washington, Jr." As devoted a follower of John Coltrane as he would become, he initially couldn't stand him. "The only Coltrane album my father had was Om, which I thought was absolutely terrible, the worst thing I ever heard."

That spacey album so turned off Greene to Trane that when someone later told him to listen to Miles Davis' Kind of Blue and he saw that Coltrane was on it, he hesitated to put it on. "All I could think of was that Om guy," he said with a laugh. Eventually, he was "blown away" by Coltrane's playing on "My Favorite Things," which has had a strong influence on his efforts on soprano saxophone.

Partly as a personal challenge to catch up with a mother lode of modern jazz history, Greene began concentrating on tenor saxophone. He formed New Perspective, a band that released two albums (On the Verge, 1998, and Jazz, 2004), and played in a wide assortment of jazz, soul, pop and prog-rock groups. Among the notable artists he has hooked up with over the years are Common, the Temptations, Brazilian soul star Ed Motta and Andrew Bird.

BLUEGRASS ARTIST PERFORMING:

HORSESHOES AND HANDGRENADES (WI)
After ten years, five albums, innumerable sold out shows, and countless libations, Americana mavericks Horseshoes & Hand Grenades appropriately consider themselves a “family” on a wild, wonderful, and often whacky roller coaster. The bond between the quintet— Adam Greuel [guitar, vocals], David C. Lynch [harmonica, accordion, vocals], Collin Mettelka [fiddle, vocals], Russell Pedersen [banjo, vocals], and Samual Odin [bass, vocals]— fuels their creativity and chemistry on stage and in the studio.

“Sometimes, it feels like we’re modern day cowboys on some kind of strange journey,” Adam affirms with a laugh. “We’re five friends who set out to do something we enjoy doing, meet interesting people, see old friends, and make some new buddies along the way. Because of that sense of friendship, everything seems to happen organically.”

That’s been the case since these five musicians first met in Stevens Point, WI at college, joined forces, and hit the road harder post-graduation in roughly 2013. They have ignited stages alongside everyone from Greensky Bluegrass, Yonder Mountain String Band, The Infamous Stringdusters, and Trampled By Turtles to Railroad Earth, Merle Haggard, and Marty Stuart in addition to appearances at festivals such as Telluride Bluegrass Festival, Delfest, High Sierra Music Festival, Blue Ox Music Festival, Northwest String Summit, John Hartford Memorial Festival, and many more. Their five albums—Another Round [2012], This Old Town [2013], Middle Western [2015], The Ode (2018), and Miles in Blue (2020) take the listener through a wide range of musical and emotional landscapes, something surely provoked by the five different members all sharing songwriting duties.
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FOX CROSSING STRING BAND (IL)
Fox Crossing Stringband is an all-female bluegrass group from Chicago, Illinois that has been winning hearts with their beautiful harmonies, original songwriting, and entertaining stage presence ever since forming in November 2016
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STRINGS BEYOND DESCRIPTION (IN)
UPCOMING STRING BAND FROM DYER. INDY PERFORMING FESTIVALS ALL OVER THE MIDWEST AREA AND BRINGING THE BLUEGRASS ENERGY TO ALL EARS IN FRONT OF THEM.

PRESALES $25 - TICKETS AT SOULDOUTEVENTS.COM
(WILL GO UP WHEN WE SELL OUT OF EARLY BIRD SALES)

VENUE: THE PAVILION , BRIDGEVIEW IL
HOTEL: HAMPTONS, 2 MIN WALKING DISTANCE FROM VENUE
AGES: ALL AGE EVENT (ANYONE 16 OR UNDER MUST BE WITH GAURDIAN, ANYONE UNDER 21 WILL BE WRISTBAND)

Bands Performing:
8pm The Devilish Winks (facebook.com/TheDevilishWinks)
9pm Nice Motor (facebook.com/nicemotorband)
10pm CrashDive (facebook.com/crashdivemusic)

ADVANCE TICKETS: https://www.eventbrite.com/.../the-devilish-winksnice...