Tenor Time concerts

About Tenor Time

Tenor Time is a Chicago jazz collective led by tenor saxophonists Scott Burns, John Wojciechowski, and Geof Bradfield. Its defining attraction is structural: three tenors work as a front line, moving through harmony, counterpoint, and tight unison while a piano-bass-drums rhythm section gives the arrangements a flexible mainstream-jazz frame. For listeners drawn to horn interplay over a single featured soloist, that setup is the reason to attend.

A Chicago project assembled for the horn line

The project’s public formation dates to 2022, when the group introduced its self-titled AFAR Music release and mounted a four-day CD-release run at Chicago’s Jazz Showcase, January 20–23. Burns, Wojciechowski, and Bradfield form the founding tenor line; pianist and producer Richard D. Johnson assembled the session, with bassist Clark Sommers and drummer Greg Artry on the recording. The release was recorded in a single day in Johnson’s studio, giving the band an origin story rooted in a deliberately concentrated ensemble session instead of a long rollout of singles.

One concentrated statement: *Tenor Time*

*Tenor Time* (2022, AFAR Music) remains the group’s central recorded statement and the release to hear before choosing a show. Across eight originals and 56 minutes, it treats the three-horn format as an arranging device as much as a soloing vehicle. DownBeat heard the saxophonists operating “individually and in accord,” a concise description of an album whose interest comes from three similar instruments finding distinct places inside the same material. The rhythm section gives the horns room without turning the date into a cutting contest.

The album’s writing is shared among the players. Bradfield contributed the opening swinger “Valkyrie” and the ballad “Some Other Sunday”; Burns wrote “Monday Waltz” and “Force Majeure”; Wojciechowski supplied “Altar Blues” and “Jazz Folk Song”; Johnson composed “Curioso” and “Corea.” That division matters: each composer brings a different entry point, while the band keeps a common palette of tenor blend, changing tempos, and collective motion. “Force Majeure” supplies an uptempo bebop charge, “Some Other Sunday” slows into an Ellington-informed ballad space, and “Jazz Folk Song” takes the form of a modal waltz.

For a prospective audience member, this is a repertoire built around originals with recognizable forms: waltzes, blues, bop velocity, ballad pacing, and swinging ensemble passages. Reviews emphasize melodic themes and an agile rhythm section, while the official club description foregrounds the movement between brisk pieces and reflective ballads. The result favors attentive listening to how lines overlap, resolve, and re-enter around the soloists.

Richard D. Johnson’s connective role

Keyboardist Richard D. Johnson is the crucial collaborator behind Tenor Time: he created and produced the project, played piano and Fender Rhodes, and composed two of its eight pieces. His AFAR Music label released the album, linking the band’s recording identity to the musician who organized its studio date. Clark Sommers and Greg Artry complete the documented recording rhythm section, while the 2022 release performances at Jazz Showcase used John Tate on acoustic bass alongside Johnson and Artry.

What the club record shows

Tenor Time’s documented live life centers on Chicago rooms designed for close listening. The band played its 2022 release engagement at Jazz Showcase across four consecutive days, with two sets listed on several nights; that is a useful indication of a repertoire able to sustain repeated club presentations. In July 2026, Andy’s Jazz Club booked the group for two 75-minute sets, 6:00–7:15 p.m. and 8:15–9:30 p.m. The same format returns on August 25, making the evening a pair of compact sets with a room clear between shows under Andy’s reservation policy.

Musically, the available press record supports a specific expectation: collective tenor writing alongside individual improvisation. DownBeat describes harmony, counterpoint, and taut unison; Andy’s frames the band around musical conversation and identifies “Force Majeure,” “Some Other Sunday,” and “Jazz Folk Song” as examples of its faster, ballad, and modal-waltz sides. The clearest touring pattern in the available listings is Chicago-centered, spanning Jazz Showcase and Andy’s, with repeat bookings at the latter venue in July and August 2026.

Current date

The latest documented Tenor Time release is the 2022 self-titled AFAR Music album, and the current public calendar evidence points to another Chicago club date. CrowdMate lists Tenor Time at Andy’s Jazz Club on Tuesday, August 25, 2026, for sets beginning at 6:00 p.m. and 8:15 p.m.; Andy’s calendar and Chicago station WDCB list the same two-show engagement. Treat this as a focused local jazz bill built around the three-tenor format heard on the record.

Start here

Start with “Force Majeure” for Burns’ fast bebop framework; “Some Other Sunday” for Bradfield’s ballad writing and the band’s spacious blend; and “Jazz Folk Song” for Wojciechowski’s modal-waltz route into the trio’s shared tenor language.

Sources

1. DownBeat Reviews: Tenor Time — DownBeat
2. Tenor Time – CD Release on AFARMusic — Jazz Showcase
3. Scott Burns / John Wojciechowski / Geof Bradfield: Tenor Time — All About Jazz
4. 1st Set With Tenor Time — Andy's Jazz Club
5. Events Calendar (Jazz) — 90.9fm WDCB