​The journey with jazz Darius Hampton has taken gives him deep respect for its traditions as much as it inspires him to seek new expressions in sound. His trio will explore this duality in a fresh imagination of acoustic, improvisational music - drawing​ from foundational rhythms and repertoire while referencing familiar forms and melodies.
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Darius Hampton is a saxophonist, composer and music educator based in Chicago. Hampton began playing professionally at age 15, In 2019, Hampton joined the faculty of Northwestern University as a Lecturer in the Jazz Studies department lead at the time by Victor Goines. As the assistant director of the Northwestern University Jazz​ Orchestra and conductor of one of the jazz small ensembles, Hampton endeavors to impart his breadth of experiences in the jazz realm to developing jazz artists. Hampton played in the band of the Porchlight Music Theater 2020 production of Sophisticated Ladies and 2022 production of Blues in the Night. He also joins the band of the Cerqua Rivera Dance Theatre for certain productions. In 2021-2022, he taught at CPS All-City Performing Arts and the Chicago Center for Music Education. After having an ongoing​ association with the organization since his time with the CJE, Hampton formally joined the Jazz Institute of Chicago as Managing Director of Education in 2022. At the JIC, Hampton oversees a jazz band festival, artist residencies in city schools, initiatives for
artist development and more!