Finnegan/Frees/Dessel is a Chicago-based trio featuring drummer Lily Finnegan, saxophonist Garrett Frees, and pianist Erez Dessel. Bringing together three distinctive voices from Chicago’s creative music community, the trio explores the space between composition, improvisation, and adventurous jazz.

Next Jazz Legacy awardee Lily Finnegan leads the quartet Heat On and has collaborated with artists including James Brandon Lewis, Ken Vandermark, gabby fluke-mogul, Macie Stewart, and Lia Kohl. Garrett Frees, a versatile saxophonist, clarinetist, and flutist, is a New England Conservatory graduate who has performed with musicians including Cecil McBee, Dave Holland, Ran Blake, and Anna Webber. Pianist and composer Erez Dessel is a longtime Chicago performer and organizer whose work has taken him across the U.S., Europe, and Asia, with releases on Corbett vs. Dempsey, Audiographic Records, and Amalgam Music.

Together, Finnegan/Frees/Dessel create music that is exploratory, responsive, and deeply rooted in the tradition of collective improvisation.