Fareed Haque Trio

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Alison Hasbach-TrueFire

Fareed Haque and guitar.

Fareed Haque

BlueStem Jazz.

media release:  

Fareed Haque is a modern guitar virtuoso. Steeped in classical and jazz traditions, his unique command of the guitar and different musical styles inspire his musical ventures with tradition and fearless innovation.

Born in 1963 to a Pakistani father and Chilean mother, Fareed’s extensive travels and especially long stays in Spain, France, Iran, Pakistan, and Chile exposed Haque to different kinds of music from a very early age. While this natural eclecticism has become a hallmark of Haque’s music, it was repeated visits to Von Freeman’s Chicago jam sessions that gave Haque a grounding in the Chicago blues and jazz traditions. The 1981 recipient of North Texas State University’s Jazz Guitar Scholarship, Haque spent a year studying with renowned jazz guitarist and pedagogue Jack Peterson. Fareed’s growing interest in the classical guitar led him to transfer to Northwestern University, where he completed his studies in classical guitar under David Buch, John Holmquist, and Anne Waller.

Soon after his transfer to NU, Haque came to the attention of multi-instrumentalist Howard Levy and joined his latin-fusion group Chevere. Thru Levy, Haque was introduced to Paquito D’Rivera and began a long and fruitful relationship with the Cuban NEA Jazz Master. Numerous world tours and recordings including Manhattan Burn, Celebration, Havana Cafe, Tico Tico, Live at the MCG were to follow. Especially notable is the classic and award winning “Reunion” featuring Haque along with Arturo Sandoval, Danilo Perez, Giovanni Hidalgo, Mark Walker, and David Fink.

Thru D’Rivera, Haque was brought to the attention of Sting, who had just begun his record label Pangaea. Sting invited Haque to join the label where he released 2 critically acclaimed recordings, “Voices Rising” and “Manresa”. Haque toured briefly with Sting, including notable appearances at The Montreux Jazz Festival, as well as NBC’s Michelob Presents Sunday Night with David Sanborn, but his own career demands led Haque in other directions.

After a short stint at Warner Bros. recording “Majestad” (unreleased and featuring John Patitucci, Michael Landau, Russel Ferrante, Grazinha, Lenny Castro, and Carlos Vega), Bruce Lundvall signed Haque to the legendary Bluenote Records. While at Bluenote, Haque recorded three albums as a leader: “Sacred Addiction”, “Opaque”, and “Déjà vu”. Haque toured and recorded extensively with other artists, including tours and 3 CDs with Javon Jackson: “A Look within”, “For One Who Knows”, and “Good People”. In addition, sideman credits include tours and recordings with Joe Henderson, Herbie Mann, Bob James, Richie Cole, Joey Calderazzo, Kahil El Zabar and the Ethnic Heritage Ensemble, and numerous Bluenote recordings for producer/arranger Bob Belden alongside Cassandra Wilson, Dianne Reeves, Joe Lovano, Paul Motian, and many others. Numerous classical recitals, as well as appearances with the Vermeer Quartet and many symphonies across the US and abroad, added to an incredible diversity of performances during this period.

Thru Belden, Haque was invited to join forces with Joe Zawinul as part of his Zawinul Syndicate. The group proved to be one of Joe’s best and most eclectic. Included were percussionist and vocalist Arto Tuncboyacian, drummer Paco Sery, bassist Mathew Garrison, along with Haque on a hybrid acoustic ‘Guistar’ and Electric Guitar. A year of extensive touring brought Haque closer to his Jazz/Rock roots.

In 2001, Haque’s interest in jam bands and the jam scene led him to co-found the jam super-group Garaj Mahal featuring Kai Eckhardt, Eric Levy, and Alan Hertz. This began 10 years of extensive touring across the US, performing in excess of 200 shows per year. Haque also joined George Brooks’ group Summit, featuring Zakir Hussain and Steve Smith. Haque was voted ‘Most Valuable Player’ at the 2002 High Sierra Music Festival. Haque and Garaj Mahal released 3 Live CDs as well as 5 studio CDs: “Mondo Garaj”, “Blueberry Cave”, “w00t”, “More Mr. Nice Guy”, and “Discovery”, which featured Haque’s debut of the Moog Guitar.

In 2004, Fareed premiered his “Lahara Double Concerto” for Sitar/Guitar and Tabla with The Chicago Sinfonietta at Symphony Center in Chicago, under the baton of maestro Paul Freeman, featuring tabla virtuoso Ustad Zakir Hussain, to whom the work is dedicated.

In 2006, Fareed was commissioned to compose a classical guitar concerto for the Fulcrum Point Ensemble. His “Gamelan Concerto” was premiered in May of ’06 at The Harris theatre in Millenium Park.

In 2007, Garaj Mahal won an Independent Music Award.

In 2009 Haque was voted ‘Best World Guitarist’ by Guitar Player Magazine’s Readers’ poll. His acclaimed 2009 release Flat Planet was twice #1 on the World Jazz Radio charts.

John Christensen - Award winning bassist, composer and Shifting Paradigm recording artist John Christensen supplies an open-hearted solidity and adventurous spirit to all of his music endeavors. With an appetite for expressing in many musical genres and situations, John has found a unique compositional voice, as demonstrated on his highly acclaimed debut album as a leader, Dear Friend. 

While an ardent student and practitioner of improvised Black American Music, John’s music also has deep roots in Rock, Folk, and Americana. Content to have his bass playing compared to Charlie Haden’s lyricism, as in reviews for Johannes Wallmann’s latest album Precarious Towers, he’s also happy to have comparisons difficult to find. His compositions strive toward a hopefulness and appreciation for the beauty and awe of life, and the wonder of small, important things.

John Christensen began his bass studies with Chris Wood in high school. After brief stints at Berklee College and North Texas, John moved to San Francisco and played in the burgeoning music scene during the late 90’s. Since Moving to Wisconsin in 1999 John has become a highly sought-after side musician, playing with numerous regional and international artists and bands. He leads his own groups and is also a co-founder of Lesser Lakes Trio with longtime collaborators Devin Drobka and Jamie Breiwick as well as KASE, an improvised hip hop trio with Jamie and Turntablist Jordan Lee.

Hannah Johnson provides an adventurous and joyful approach to her musical endeavors. Hannah’s desire to express herself in various genres keeps her busy composing and playing drums within the jazz idiom as well as folk + indie music. In her Milwaukee based quartet, Heirloom, she brings a mesmerizing optimism and compositional voice. Her awe of rhythm, emotive harmonic structures and a touch of chaos drives Hannah's musical approach. You can hear her enriched sound within her arrangement of Duke Ellington’s "Isfahan" - a harmonically elusive yet personable homage - which can be found on Heirloom’s debut record Familiar Beginnings. Hannah has become a highly sought-after side musician, playing with numerous regional and international artists and bands. She regularly plays with Russ Johnson (trumpet) and Tim Ipsen (bass) in her chordless trio that journeys through a communal trove of original compositions. She recently toured with soul and R&B artist, Durand Jones, who opened for country musician, Orville Peck, on his 2024 North American “Stampede Tour”. She has performed with international artists including Rob Clearfield, Dayna Stephens, Geof Bradfield, and Sharel Cassidy. In addition to Hannah's drumming, her voice soothes and soars within her songwriting as seen in her collaboration with the band Finding Frances. You can find Hannah's song "Scotland" on their debut album For Flowers Yet to Bloom as well as her song “In a Sunset” on their subsequent record Rewilding.