Geof Bradfield

Born in Houston, TX, saxophonist and composer Geof Bradfield has shared the stage throughout North America, Europe, Russia, Asia, Africa and the Middle East with jazz luminaries such as Randy Weston, Carl Allen, Brian Blade, Rodney Whitaker, Etienne Charles, Joe Locke, and Orrin Evans. He also performs and records regularly with fellow Chicago artists including Dana Hall, Clark Sommers, Jeff Parker, Matt Ulery, Marquis Hill, and Ryan Cohan, to name a few. His work is featured on 50+ CDs, including six albums as a leader that have garnered critical accolades from the New York Times, Los Angeles Times, Downbeat, the Chicago Tribune and NPR. Bradfield has been recognized in Downbeat Critics Polls as a Rising Star Tenor Saxophonist and Arranger. His latest CD is Birdhoused, recorded live in Chicago and released on the Canadian label Cellar Live in 2017.

A committed educator, Bradfield is Associate 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.

Awards

2015 Rising Star Arranger, 2015 Downbeat Critics Poll 2014 DCASE grant from the city of Chicago 2012 Illinois Arts Council Grant for Music Composition 2011 New Jazz Works: Composition and Presentation Award from Chamber Music America and the Doris Duke Foundation 2010 Illinois Arts Council Grant for Music Composition 2010 Fellowship in Music Composition from the Black Metropolis Research Consortium and the Carnegie-Mellon Foundation. 2009 Community Arts Assistance Program Grant from the City of Chicago 2008 New Works: Composition and Presentation Award from Chamber Music America/Doris Duke Foundation

Gear

Selmer Super Balanced Action Tenor w/ Rubber Zimberoff refaced by Adam Neiwood;; Selmer MkVI soprano; Buffet Prestige Bass Clarinet

Tags

Album Review

General Semantics by Troy Dostert
Originations by Paul Rauch
Peninsula by Mike Jurkovic
Yes, and...Music for Nine Improvisers by Jerome Wilson
Yes, and...Music for Nine Improvisers by Troy Dostert
Birdhoused by Dan McClenaghan
Our Roots by C. Michael Bailey
Our Roots by Mark Corroto
Our Roots by Dan McClenaghan
Melba! by Hrayr Attarian

“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

“Like I said man, you’ve been chosen. You don’t know that. The African Ancestors chose you. When you truly love your ancestors, with true love, they will guide you and they will touch you no matter where you are on the planet earth. You can be in Stockholm, you can be in Mississippi, you can be in Rio de Janeiro, when the ancestral spirits touch you, you have to respond

Voted Rising Star Arranger, 2015 Downbeat Critics Poll

Press for Melba!

“A heartfelt tribute and an impressive statement.” **** Downbeat Magazine

“Randy Weston gives saxophonist and clarinetist Bradfield his blessing in the album’s liner notes, and the acclaim is deserved…Bradfield and a sympathetic group expound on each theme with elan and intelligence. JazzTimes

“By invoking the spirit of Melba Liston in a highly personal, creative fashion, Bradfield honors her memory as he carries on her legacy.” New York City Jazz Record

“The long lines, complex themes and meticulous structuring of this score point to the high craft of Bradfield’s writing.” Howard Reich, Chicago Tribune

“… a magnificent recording. Dan McClenaghan, AllAboutJazz

“Geof Bradfield has drawn plenty of praise for his work as a reed soloist, and it’s all deserved; on tenor and soprano saxes, plus bass clarinet and flute, his muscular, choate solos unfurl with a torrent of detail, even as he sketches the bigger picture. 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, ChicagoMusic.org

“Through all of the score studying, composing, and careful consideration of bandmates, it should not be ignored that the one thing that makes this well- planned suite of music into a fantastic jazz recording is the saxophone playing of Geof Bradfield. Nearly unparalleled on the Chicago scene, Bradfield’s playing is at once inspiring and intimidating… Further still, through all of his high-flying acrobatic saxophone work, he never once loses his intensely personal sound or ability to connect with an audience.” Alex Marianyi, Nextbop

“The brilliantly orchestrated pieces allow individual band members to step into the spotlight without dominating the scene. The carefully structured role of the instruments, nevertheless allows for creative spontaneity within the framework of each composition. This innovative and seamless fusion of the ad-lib and pre-written makes for a thrilling listening experience. ” Hryar Attarian, AllAboutJazz

Press for African Flowers

Selected as one of the Top 10 Jazz CDs of 2010 by The Los Angeles Times, Neil Tesser, the Ottawa Citizen, Cadence Magazine, All About Jazz, and the All Music Guide.

Selected as one of the best CDs of 2010 by Tom Hull of the Village Voice.

Named “one of the most anticipated CDs of 2010 by Howard Reich of the Chicago Tribune.

“…the resulting suite of music from Bradfield draws as much from his own musical essence as a modern jazz performer steeped in the jazz heritage, as it draws directly from African music. With all these elements plus his innovative imagination and strong writing and arranging skills, Bradfield has crafted an appealing musical portrait of Africa which is well comprehended and performed by his excellent sextet, yielding one of the finest jazz albums of the year in my view. (Cadence Magazine)

“African Flowers is a knock-out!” (Peter Margasak)

”Bradfield's experiences [in Africa] play out vividly on the new disc in a continuous suite; the thematic arc is identical to his itinerary… “Butare,” ”Lubumbashi” “Kampala” and “Harare,” divided by solo interludes in addition to melodic anecdotes, like the hard-swinging postbop bustle “Nairobi Transit” and tender ballad “Mama Yemo,” A sleek swing undercurrent keeps African Flowers filed in the jazz bin, but the syncopated countermelodies coursing through Bradfield's compositions play like a musical travelogue. “ (Downbeat)

“Bradfield turned in poetic work on his CD of last year, African Flowers. The luster of his tone on saxophone is matched by the depth of his work as composer.”(Howard Reich, Chicago Tribune)

“...together the band delivers entrancing polyrhythmic themes like the melodic Rwandan praise song “Butare” and the danceable Congolese rumba ”Lubumbashi,” the latter a catchy clave vehicle for the leader's bold tenor sax work. (Bill Milkowski, Jazztimes)

“Bradfield traveled to Africa and like many jazz musicians who have journeyed overseas to hear other forms of music, absorbed what he heard and blended influences from them with his own original ideas...Africa seen through the prism of Geof Bradfield's music proves to be a delightful experience. (AllMusicGuide)

“We’ve come to expect top-drawer saxophone solos from Bradfield... His solos unwind with a wealth of imaginative detail but without any sense of alacrity; at his most impassioned, he remains unruffled and unflappable, drawing occasional comparisons to a young Sonny Rollins or to the contemporary Chris Potter. But Bradfield’s writing is a revelation. Not only does it have much the same power and precision of his soloing; it also shows a highly refined use of the limited instrumentation, which allows him to create orchestral textures from just his sextet.” (Neil Tesser, The Examiner)

“He gracefully and precisely leads a superb sextet—with Fludas, Cohan, Sommers, guitarist Jeff Parker, and trumpeter Victor Garcia—through pieces characterized by lush, elegant melody lines and streaked with contrapuntal figures and pretty harmonies. Bradfield hasn’t undertaken an ethnographic experiment here—like the Ellington work I mentioned above, what he saw and heard functioned as an inspiration for ideas in his own idiom.” (Chicago Reader)

“Mature and exciting work from an ascendant player and composer.” (Chicagojazz.net)

“Bradfield's excellent jazz adventure into Africa ultimately leads right back home. Funny, how small this world actually is. This is one beautiful record.” (Allaboutjazz)

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Primary Instrument

Saxophone, tenor

Location

Chicago

Willing to teach

Advanced only

Credentials/Background

Currently Associate Professor of Jazz Saxophone at Northern Illinois University, Geof Bradfield has extensive experience as an educator. Since completing his MFA at California Institute of the Arts, he has held positions at several colleges and universities as well as teaching master classes in topics ranging from improvisation to the history of American music in the twentieth century to jazz composition and saxophone technique. He has toured Africa, the Middle East and Russia through Jazz at Lincoln Center's "The Rhythm Road: American Music Abroad" program as a performer and clinician.