SEAN FRANCOIS

Sean Francois is an accomplished jazz bassist from Sleepy Hollow, Illinois. With two musicians for parents, Sean grew up surrounded by music. Sean picked up the bass at age 9 and has been performing ever since. During high school, Sean studied with several of the top musicians and educators in the Chicago area including Nick Schneider, Mark Bettcher and Ray Koehler. He performed with Elgin Community College’s Jazz Ensemble and Combos.

 

Sean also attended the Shell Lake Arts Center jazz camps for four years, where he learned and performed with some of the best young jazz musicians in the Midwest. In the spring of 2013, Sean graduated with a Bachelor’s degree in music from Indiana University’s prestigious Jacobs School of Music where he studied under the tutelage of David Baker, Jeremy Allen, Steve Houghton, Michael Spiro, Brent Wallarab, Luke Gillespie, Pat Harbison and Tom Walsh.

 

Some of his most notable performances include: Indiana University’s Latin Jazz Ensemble featuring Randy Brecker and Peter Erskine, The Sean Francois Trio at several Indiana University venues, Indiana University’s Jazz Ensembles, the Northwest Jazz Collective, Café Cubano, The Arianna Fanning Quartet and The Matt Peterson Trio.

 

Sean is also known in the Chicago and Bloomington, IN areas for his work with the math-rock band, Brownie Mountain. He has participated in several small tours in the Midwest and has released two albums with them in the last three years. When Sean is not performing, he is teaching private bass lessons in the Chicago area.