The Chris Hare Quartet

The brainchild of guitarist and Lafayette native Chris Hare, the group embodies what Hare considers his favorite combination: guitar, tenor sax, bass and drums, as popularized on Sonny Rollins’ “The Bridge.”
“From the minute I first heard that record I knew I wanted to have a group with this instrumentation because each voice is able to be independent, yet has its function in the group,” Hare says. “I think that’s what I like about us. Each of us brings a personality to the band.”
Featuring Chris on guitar, Tim McFatter on tenor, Tom Lyles on bass and Danny Devillier on drums, the group aims for a sound in the tradition of Rollins' 1963 quartet, but rooted in the present day; allowing anything from bebop to free jazz to rock as stylistic fair game.
“Because we’ve been playing together for quite a while now, we’ve become a band as opposed to just being four guys who get together to just blow over some tunes,” Hare says.
Their roots squarely in Louisiana, all four members have ties to the UL School of Music. Hare received his bachelor’s degree in music media at UL and his master’s degree in jazz studies from Indiana University. Longtime comrade Devillier received both his bachelor’s and master’s degrees from UL, in music media and music theory and composition, respectively. Lyles finished his music degree in 2007.