Soul Message Trio
CHRIS FOREMAN Chris Foreman is a masterful musician and heir to the throne occupied by the soulful, bluesy jazz organ legends who were once his influence. Blind at birth, Foreman started playing piano at age five and began formal training at seven. As a teenager he was attracted to the organ sounds of Jack McDuff, Groove Holmes, JimmySmith and Jimmy McGriff. This attraction led Chris to pursue playing jazz on the organ, which he undertook through intensive study of recordings. Unlike many African- American musicians whose musical knowledge begins and is established through the church, Chris didn't start his apprenticeship as a church organist until he was almost twenty years old - well after his jazz roots were established. He has arrived at a most exciting blend of blues-gospel and jazz and has developed a stunning command and range on the instrument. The blend of his sound is evident in his professional experience, which has included work with Hank Crawford, Albert Collins, Bernard Purdie, The Mighty Blue Kings and Deep Blue Organ Trio. GREG ROCKINGHAM Drummer Greg Rockingham began playing when he was just three years old and debuted as a professional musician at age five in his father's jazz ensemble. An alumnus of the famed Interlochen Arts Academy and Northeastern University, he has won numerous musical awards from the Notre Dame Jazz Festival. Greg has performed or recorded with a wide range of famous names, including the orchestras of Glenn Miller and Guy Lombardo, vocalists Freddie Cole, Patty Page and Jerry Vale and instrumentalists Nat Adderley, Kenny Burrell, Charles Earland, Irene Reid, Ellis Marsalis, Nancy Wilson, and Deep Blue Organ Trio. GREG JUNG Greg Jung is a Chicago based alto saxophonist, originally from Albany, NY. He earned a Bachelor's degree from SUNY Purchase where he studied with Jon Gordon, Ralph Lalama, Gary Smulyan, Mark Vinci, Steve Wilson, Todd Coolman, Jon Faddis, Hal Galper, Charles Blenzig and others. In 2014 Greg won the Vandoren Emerging Artist Competition, and traveled to perform that year in Paris, France. He spent three years in NYC before deciding to travel the country, performing in clubs and on the street in many of America's great cities and small towns. It was in this way that he ended up in Chicago, where he has performed at venues like the Green Mill, Andy's, Winters, Hungry Brain and the Chicago Jazz Festival. Since emerging onto the scene, he has shared the stage with many of the world class musicians that reside in the city. Greg received the Chicago Luminarts Cultural Foundation Fellowship in 2023.
Jazz / BluesRock
