Rodrigo Villanueva Avant-Jazz Quartet

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Rodrigo Villanueva Avant-Jazz Quartet (clockwise from top left): Mark Feldman, Fareed Haque, Rodrigo Villanueva and John Christensen

BlueStem Jazz. Rodrigo Villanueva Avant-Jazz Quartet, featuring Mark Feldman, Fareed Haque & John Christensen at North Street Cabaret | Apr 8 | 8pm | TIX

The group will perform originals as well as some jazz standards.

Rodrigo Villanueva is currently a full professor of jazz studies at Northern Illinois University. Rodrigo teaches Jazz Drum Set, Jazz Arranging I, Jazz Arranging II and directs the award-winning NIU Jazz Ensemble (Formerly known as the NIU Jazz Lab Band). Rodrigo performs regularly in the U.S. and Mexico with several groups, among them, The Eddie Gomez Trio, the NIU Jazz Faculty Group Nucleus, Panoramic, Anders Svanoe Jazz Trio and Rodrigo Villanueva Jazz Trio/Quartet.

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, Fareeds 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 Haques music, it was repeated visits to Von Freemans Chicago jam sessions that gave Haque a grounding in the Chicago blues and jazz traditions.

Haque came to the attention of multi-instrumentalist Howard Levy and joined his latin-fusion group Chevere. Thru Levy, Haque was introduced to Paquito DRivera and began a long and fruitful relationship with the Cuban NEA Jazz Master.

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 90s. There he learned and grew playing with Scott Amenodola, Jenny Scheinman, Liberty Ellman, Hal Stein, Mark Levine, Adam Levy, Slide Five, Vijay Iyer, as well as his own trio, Dam East. Since Moving to Wisconsin in 1999 John has played with numerous local artists and bands including Louka Patenaude, Alison Margaret, Anthony Deutsch, Tony Barba, Jonathan Greenstein, Anders Svanoe, Johannes Wallmann and Harmonious Wail. John also is a co-counder of the band Lesser Lakes Trio