Fareed Haque to perform Jan. 25 in DeKalb

Submitted by Northern Illinois University

Northern Illinois University faculty member Fareed Haque will celebrate his 50th birthday with an evening of music at The House Cafe.

The celebration begins at 7:30 p.m. Friday, Jan. 25 at the House Café, 263 E. Lincoln Hwy. (Route 38) in DeKalb, (815) 787-9548. Cover charge is $8; $6 for NIU students.

On tap for the evening are Bowling Night and the Pins at 7:30 p.m., with Soundistrict at 8:30 p.m., Fareed Haque’s Mathgames at 9:30 p.m. and The Bonzo Terks at 11:30 p.m.

The jazz and classical guitar virtuoso will celebrate 50 years of music and performance. Haque, professor of guitar and jazz at NIU, was voted Best World Guitarist 2009 by Guitar Player magazine. Visit www.fareed.com.

The show will feature the premiere of DeKalb artist Justin McAllister’s newest work — a large mural featuring the giants of jazz. “Blessed Jazz” is a 6-foot by 3-foot work commissioned by Edman Vargas, an avid art collector who does custom car work in Florida. The piece will only be shown for the evening.

Using the Sharpie marker as his medium, McAllister works full-time creating his pieces. He meticulously applies points of color to give his art a 3-D look from a distance and a tight pointillism effect up close.

In late 2011, actor Zac Efron and McAllister successfully worked together on a charity that helped ignite McAllister’s career. Efron is now the largest collector of McAllister’s works at 15 pieces.