Wonderful Performance Featuring Ed Saindon

Today we were fortunate to have the amazing Ed Saindon as a guest artist on the NIU campus. Ed presented a jazz improvisation workshop in the afternoon, and performed this evening at one of our local music venues, The House Cafe. Performing with Ed this evening was my colleague Rodrigo Villanueva on drums, our fantastic alum Doug Stone on tenor and soprano saxes, and another fabulous alum on bass, John Tate.

Ed's been one of my favorite vibraphonists since I first heard him play, sometime in the early 1980's I think it was. I met Ed for the first time in 1990, and the past couple of years we've been in touch more. He is a warm, genuine human being who happens to be an absolutely incredible musician. Immediately following one of his solos tonight, before any clapping could start, one of the audience members yelled "WOW!" I'm pretty sure that sums up how everyone in the audience was feeling about Ed's playing. It was so great to see Ed and to hear him play again. I hope you get the chance to see and hear him, too.