Randy Sabien & Fred Simon in Concert

Randy Sabien is a bluesy, rockin’, swingin’, funky, jazz violinist. With an intensely rhythmic, vibrant and inventive style, he has captivated audiences worldwide, playing with scores of bands and musicians of all stripes.  At age 21, he founded and chaired the string department at Berklee College of Music in Boston. Since then he has gone on to teach internationally and is a co-author, along with Bob Phillips, of the acclaimed Jazz Philharmonic Series, his teaching method for alternative strings.  Fred Simon has been making music for more than forty years, composing for records, live performance, film, dance, and television, with instrumentation ranging from solo piano to symphonic orchestra. Since childhood, he has been convinced that he is a singer/songwriter trapped in the body of someone who can’t sing.  He has been with the Music Institute of Chicago since 2011.

Randy and Fred were at the University of Illinois Urbana at the same time 1974-76. Randy attended Fred’s senior composition recital when he was a sophomore and says he was blown away. Fred was a couple of years ahead of Randy, so Randy didn’t know him, but he knew that he had a stellar reputation among the instructors at the University. Fast forward to 1982, and they connected when Randy was recording his first album in Evanston, IL.  Since then they have played together sporadically over the years.  They relish any opportunities they get (which are few and far between) to perform together.

The evening will feature original compositions from both performers as well as standards.