SOUL MESSAGE TRIO FEATURING CHRIS FOREMAN

Saturday, September 27

TIME: 5:00pm-6:00pm

VENUE: AUGUSTANA CHURCH. 5500 south woodlawn ave.

SOUL MESSAGE Trio FEATURING CHRIS FOREMAN

Soul Message Trio is founded on the enduring partnership of Chris Foreman, the Chicago-based and nationally celebrated jazz organist, and the always solid drummer, Greg Rockingham, aka “The Rock.” Foreman and Rockingham have an unmistakable chemistry and a 25-year history of collaboration (including groups like the Deep Blue Organ Trio) that has taken them from Chicago to jazz clubs and arenas around the world, both as headliners and as an opening group for Steely Dan. The band adds Chicago veteran saxophonist Greg Jung.

Chris Foreman is a masterful musician and heir to the throne occupied by the 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, Jimmy Smith, and Jimmy McGriff, and soon began playing jazz on the organ. Over time, he has arrived at an exciting blend of blues-gospel and jazz, and developed a stunning command and range on the instrument. He has performed or recorded with artists including Hank Crawford, Albert Collins, Bernard Purdie, and The Mighty Blue Kings.

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.

Greg Rockingham began playing drums 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. He has performed or recorded with, among others, Freddie Cole, Patty Page, Jerry Vale, Nat Adderley, Kenny Burrell, Charles Earland, Irene Reid, Ellis Marsalis, Nancy Wilson, Deep Blue Organ Trio, and the orchestras of Glenn Miller and Guy Lombardo.

The musicians:

Chris Foreman - Hammond B-3 organ

Greg Jung - alto saxophone

Greg Rockingham - drums