Soul Message Band

media release: Soul Message Band will perform at Arts + Literature Laboratory on Friday, February 17 at 7:00pm. Doors open at 6:30pm. Tickets are $15 ($10 student/ALL member) in advance online after January 1, and $20 at the door for everyone. 

Soul Message Band is founded on the enduring partnership of Chris Foreman, the Chicago-based and nationally celebrated Hammond B3 Jazz Organist, and the always solid drummer, Greg Rockingham, aka “The Rock.” Foreman and Rockingham have a 25-year history of collaboration, and have an unmistakable chemistry that has taken them from Chicago to Jazz Clubs and Arenas around the world as both headliners and as an opening group for Steely Dan. The band adds Chicago veteran guitarist, Lee Rothenberg on guitar.

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, Jimmy Smith and Jimmy McGriff. This attraction led Chris to pursue playing jazz on the organ, which he undertook through intensive study of recordings. 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.

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, and vocalists Freddie Cole, Patty Page and Jerry Vale.

Lee Rothenberg was born in Philadelphia and started playing guitar at the age of 14 after studying classical piano for 8 years. His obsession with jazz began at age 16 after spending a summer at Interlochen Arts Camp where he devoted many hours listening to Wes Montgomery, Miles Davis, and John Coltrane in the listening library. He moved to Evanston, IL in 2000 to attend Northwestern University where he studied with jazz pianist Mike Kocour. Since his arrival in 2005, guitarist Lee Rothenberg has emerged as an in-demand sideman in the Chicago Jazz Scene. Noted for a style that is deeply rooted in the Jazz Guitar Tradition, Lee's playing exhibits the sacred elements of melody, swing, and creativity.