Chad Eby

Missouri-born and Iowa-raised, Chad Eby is a life-long student of music. Born in 1973, he began playing clarinet at the age of 11 and began studying the saxophone a year later. He went on to study music at Luther College, completing his degree in Jazz Studies at the University of North Texas. Chad earned his master’s degree in Saxophone Performance from Ohio State University. While in Ohio he released his first album, "Triptych" (2001), gaining critical acclaim from AllAboutJazz.com and fellow saxophonists Branford Marsalis and Wessel Anderson. His second album," Broken Shadows", was released in February of 2010, featuring Steve Haines, Jason Marsalis, Doug Wamble, and Branford Marsalis. "New Business" followed in 2012, centered around a suite of original compositions based on the visual art of Trenton Doyle Hancock. His 2014 release, "The Sweet Shel Suite: Music Inspired by Shel Silverstein", received a four-star rating from DownBeat magazine. 2019’s “BFFs” found him in intimate duo performances with singer/songwriter/pianist Ariel Pocock. “BFFs II”, a live recording, followed in 2020. As a saxophonist and composer Chad has earned widespread critical acclaim as “a consummate improviser“ (Jazz Times), who “has tremendous poise and natural melodic sense“ (Ottawa Sun), and whose “tone is boundless, blues-inflected, and wholly satisfying“ (AllAboutJazz.com). DownBeat Magazine said of ‘The Sweet Shel Suite’, “even at its most whimsical and breathless, The Sweet Shel Suite never ceases to be tuneful. Even if you’ve never read Silverstein’s poetry, there’s plenty of inspired composition here to sink your teeth into.” Since 2006, Chad has taught in the Miles Davis Jazz Studies Program at UNC-Greensboro. "...there is a movement in jazz that embraces a once taken-for-granted model: modernity thru authenticity. Here is where we find Chad Eby." - Branford Marsalis