The Million Quartet plays original music composed by Steve Million, a jazz pianist who has recorded with Randy Brecker and Chris Potter. The quartet features the dynamic artistry of Mark Feldman on jazz violin along with the deep psychically connected grooves of Bob Rummage and Eric Hochberg.

Band Members:
Steve Million - Piano/Compositions
Mark Feldman - Violin
Eric Hochberg - Bass
Bob Rummage - Drums

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The Million Quartet was born out of playing together. Eric Hochberg and Steve Million had a steady five-night-a-week gig at Catch 35 in downtown Chicago for 19 years; the gig featured mostly local jazz guest artists nightly. Mark Feldman joined the rotation and soon became a once-a-month (or more frequently) addition to the band. Million and Hochberg introduced their original compositions into the fray, and two bands were born: Eric Hochberg’s String Thing and the Million Quartet. The addition of the great drummer Bob Rummage was a no-brainer, as both Million and Hochberg had played with Rummage in the Mark Colby Quartet and other projects around Chicago.

Million decided to record the Million Quartet’s album Perfectly Spaced—released on Calligram Records—about a year later after the band’s first meeting. The Million Quartet is currently working on its second release.

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Steve Million has lived and worked in Chicago since 1988, having previously resided in Kansas City, Mo., and New York City. In Kansas City, Million led several bands, including Four Friends (with Steve Cardenas) and the eight-piece horn band the Mighty Lizards. Million moved to NYC in 1981 and lived there for two years, making inroads into the jazz music scene of New York before moving back to Kansas City. In 1988, he was a semi-finalist in the internationally renowned Thelonious Monk Piano Competition. He has made 11 or 12 albums as a leader—he has lost track—on labels including Origin Records, Palmetto Records, and Calligram Records.

Mark Feldman has performed with John Zorn, John Abercrombie, the Masada String Trio, Dave Douglas, Uri Caine, and Billy Hart. He was a member of the Civic Orchestra of Chicago and played in many bar bands in Chicago. He played on over 200 recordings in Nashville as a studio musician, was a member of the Nashville Symphony, and was a member of the touring groups of country/Western entertainers Loretta Lynn and Ray Price. In 2003, he was soloist with Netherlands Radio Philharmonic Orchestra in Guus Janssen's Violin Concerto and with the WDR Jazz Orchestra in Concerto for Violin and Jazz Orchestra by Bill Dobbins. He has recorded with Michael Brecker, Lee Konitz, Joe Lovano, and Chris Potter and has played on over 100 recordings in New York City as a soloist in contemporary music and modern jazz. Feldman has released several albums, including Music for Violin Alone (Tzadik, 1995); Book of Tells (Enja, 2000); What Exit (ECM, 2006 with British pianist John Taylor; and To Fly to Steal (Intakt, 2010) with bassist Thomas Morgan and drummer Gerry Hemingway.

An in-demand performer on the Chicago and international music scenes for over 40 years, Eric Hochberg has lent his bass work, arranging, composing and producing skills to a variety of projects across the realms of jazz, folk, rock, and blues. He has performed or recorded with musical greats including Pharoah Sanders, Bobby McFerrin, Barbra Streisand, Cassandra Wilson, Kurt Elling, Mark Murphy, Sheila Jordan, Von Freeman, Terry Callier, Ken Nordine ”Word Jazz,” Joshua Redman, Howard Levy, Patricia Barber, Bob Mintzer, Dave Liebman, and Sam Rivers.

Bob Rummage is one of the busiest musicians in Chicago. He maintains a versatile schedule of performances with ensembles ranging from the Metropolitan Jazz Octet to the eclectic styles of Alfonso Ponticelli. He has performed with many internationally known musicians—including Dizzy Gillespie, Nat Adderley, Benny Golson, Buddy DeFranco, Bela Fleck, and Mississippi blues man Mose Allison—and has performed on albums with Frank Mantooth, Steve Weist, Rob Parton, Colby/Caruso, Bob Lark, and Steve Million. Rummage is a sought-after clinician, having made appearances at various high schools and colleges, including the University of Illinois, University of Kentucky, Emporia State, University of Wisconsin-Whitewater, and the Music For All camp at Illinois State.