Tickets: $15/$10 students

Steve Hudson Chamber Ensemble is a project of New Jersey based pianist/composer Steve Hudson that bridges and morphs jazz, chamber music, and folk music into one cohesive and individual sound. Hudson’s compositions and piano style embrace the history of jazz, blues, folk, and modern classical music, all with a free spirited love of improvisation. Keyboard Magazine writes, “There is a quest for beauty in his lines that evoke the masters.” All About Jazz writes of Hudson’s compositions, “If jazz is the sound of surprise, then this is it!” The ensemble features Zach Brock on violin, Jody Redhage on cello, Martin Urbach on percussion, and the leader on piano and melodica. SCHE will be releasing a new recording in June, 2010.

Violinist Zach Brock has collaborated with artists such as bassist Stanley Clarke, Alice Coltrane, Jack DeJohnette, Mose Allison, Kurt Elling, Chris Potter, and The Mahavishnu Project. Cellist Jody Redhage is a rising star on the chamber and new music scene and has performed at Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, Merkin Hall, and the Brooklyn Academy of Music. She has collaborated with members of the Tokyo String Quartet, Bang on a Can All-Stars, Jay-Z, Beyonce, and Neil Diamond. Drummer/percussionist. Martin Urbach is from Bolivia and settled in New Orleans before coming to New York City where he is a sought after drummer and percussionist.

Steve maintains a busy performance schedule with performances in the US, Canada, and Europe with his chamber ensemble and other projects. Steve is cofounder of the Outer Bridge Ensemble (OBE), a collective of musicians whose experimental yet groove oriented works are featured in three recordings. In 2004 and 2009 the group received funding from the Canada Council to tour Canada. Hudson was a finalist in the International Song Writing Competition for his composition “Mingus Moon.” His playing and recent compositions were released in March 2010, by CBC Radio, and he is presently composing an extended suite with saxophonist Claire Daly to be premiered in 2011 at the Juneau Jazz Classics in Alaska. In addition to performance work, Hudson teaches music at Raritan Valley Community College, The Arts Council of Princeton, and Jazzmobile of New York City.

Hudson was largely self taught, and learned the instrument by ear and from playing along with Ray Charles and Lou Rawls' record, thanks to the encouragement and guidance of his high school art teacher, James Reed and James Ellington. Steve graduated from Skidmore College with a degree in English literature and divided his love of music with a teaching and writing career. In his early twenties he met the pianist Barry Harris who introduced him to the world of bebop, and everything changed. Steve threw himself into the world of music and has never looked back. Hudson earned his bachelor of music degree from Rutgers University where he studied with Stanley Cowell, and then did his graduate studies at Manhattan School of Music where he studied with Kenny Barron and Garry Dial. Hudson's current projects can be found at www.steve-hudson.com.

If jazz is the sound of surprise, then this is it! The images that come to mind are flying over water on a dark moonlit night...yet many times a killer groove kicks in. There is so much going on here that something new will pop up each time. OBE has created music that is memorable and will stay with you a long time" -- All About Jazz