Geof Bradfield

Born in Houston, TX., Geof Bradfield attended the well-known High School for the Performing and Visual Arts in that city. He then moved to Chicago to continue his education at DePaul University, and later to Los Angeles, where he completed a master’s degree at CalArts. While at CalArts, Geof studied with and had the opportunity to perform with such luminaries as Charlie Haden, Albert “Tootie Heath”, Roscoe Mitchell, Leo Smith, and Joe LaBarbara. He then moved to Brooklyn, where he lived from 1994 to 1997. During this period, Geof performed with many forward-looking musicians on the New York scene, including guitarists Ben Monder and Steve Cardenas, drummers Matt Wilson, Marc Miralta and Owen Howard, pianists David Hazeltine and Henry Hey, bassists Avishai Cohen, Reid Anderson and Joe Martin, and dancer Savion Glover.

Geof returned to Chicago for a brief period in 1997, during which he toured with various groups (including the popular Chicago band, The Mighty Blue Kings) throughout the U.S. and Europe. He also worked in Chicago with groups led by Jodie Christian, Marlene Rosenberg, Arturo Sandoval, Ben Sidran, Charles Earland, and Lonnie Smith, as well as with Ted Sirota’s Rebel Souls and the Ryan Cohan Quartet. He also led his own group during this time, a trio with Noel Kupersmith and Ted Sirota.

After a three-year hiatus in Pullman, Washington, where he taught at Washington State University, Geof returned to Chicago in 2003. Currently, he works extensively with Ted Sirota’s Rebel Souls and the Ryan Cohan Quartet as well as with the Mike Allemana Quartet, Dan Cray and his own groups, performing locally and touring in North America and Europe. Notable recent performances include appearances at the 2003 and 2004 Chicago Jazz Festivals and the 2006 Taste of Chicago; a performance with post-rock icon Tortoise in the new Millenium Park bandshell; a tour of Germany, Austria and Switzerland to promote Rule of Three; and a month long tour of Africa and the middle east as part of JALC’s program, the Rhythm Road. Geof can be heard on recordings by several of the groups mentioned above, as well as many others. His debut as a leader, Rule of Three (Liberated Zone), has received much critical claim, including a laudatory review from Ben Ratliff in the New York Times and selection as one of the best albums of 2003 by Peter Margasak of the Chicago Reader. His newest cd, Urban Nomad, was released on Origin Records in July of 2008.

Most recently, Geof was awarded the prestigious and highly competitive NewWorks: Creation and Presentation Grant by Chamber Music America. The grant will enable him to compose and perform a collection of interconnected short pieces inspired by his travels in Africa. Geof is also currently on the Faculty of Columbia College in Chicago.