Chris Speed | |
|---|---|
 Chris Speed in Aarhus, Denmark 2010 | |
| Background information | |
| Born | February 12, 1967 Seattle, Washington, U.S. |
| Genres | jazz, improvisation |
| Occupation(s) | Musician |
| Instrument(s) | tenor saxophone, clarinet |
| Labels | Skirl, Intakt |
| Website | www |
Chris Speed (born February 12, 1967) is an American saxophonist, clarinetist, and composer. [1]
Speed grew up outside of Seattle and studied classical piano and clarinet from an early age. [1] He later began studying jazz, took up the tenor saxophone, and performed in a local big band while in high school. [1]
Speed attended the New England Conservatory of Music in Boston, where he founded Human Feel with Andrew D'Angelo, Jim Black, and Kurt Rosenwinkel; [1] the band continued performing after his move to New York. [2]
Speed leads or co-leads the groups Pachora (with Jim Black, Skúli Sverrisson, and Brad Shepik), [3] The Clarinets (with Oscar Noriega and Anthony Burr), [4] yeah NO (with Black, Sverrisson, and Cuong Vu), [5] Trio Iffy (with Ben Perowsky and Jamie Saft), [6] Endangered Blood (with Black, Noriega and Trevor Dunn), [7] the Chris Speed Trio (with Dave King and Chris Tordini) [8] and Broken Shadows (with Tim Berne, Reid Anderson and Dave King) a band dedicated to reinterpreting the music of Ornette Coleman and Julius Hemphill.
The co-led quartet Pachora was influenced by Balkan and Middle Eastern rhythms [3] and said to be "immersed in Eastern European and Moroccan music", [9] performing originals and Greek, Bulgarian and Turkish works. Speed also performed and recorded with the Balkan brass and jazz band Slavic Soul Party!. [10]
Speed is a founding member of the avant-garde jazz groups Bloodcount (Tim Berne, Jim Black, Michael Formanek), [11] The Claudia Quintet (John Hollenbeck, Matt Moran, Red Wierenga, and Drew Gress), [12] AlasNoAxis (Black, Sverrisson, and Hilmar Jensson), [13] and Heroic Frenzies (Craig Taborn, Dave King, and Chris Lightcap). [14]
In 2006, Speed created Skirl Records, a label dedicated to Brooklyn-based creative music. [15]
In August 2021, Speed joined The Bad Plus. [16] They released an album, entitled simply The Bad Plus, on September 30, 2022. [17]
with Human Feel
with Pachora
with The Clarinets
with Endangered Blood
with Zeno De Rossi
with Broken Shadows
with The Bad Plus
with Tim Berne
with Jim Black
with The Claudia Quintet
with Uri Caine
with Dave King
with Craig Taborn
with others/selected
| International | |
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| National | |
| Artists | |
| Other | |
Jim Black is an American jazz drummer who has performed with Tim Berne and Dave Douglas. He attended Berklee College of Music.
Andrew Charles Cyrille is an American avant-garde jazz drummer. Throughout his career, he has performed both as a leader and a sideman in the bands of Walt Dickerson and Cecil Taylor, among others. AllMusic biographer Chris Kelsey wrote: "Few free-jazz drummers play with a tenth of Cyrille's grace and authority. His energy is unflagging, his power absolute, tempered only by an ever-present sense of propriety."
Tim Berne is an American avant-garde jazz saxophonist and record label owner. His primary instruments are the alto and baritone saxophones.
Screwgun Records is a jazz record label founded by saxophonist Tim Berne in 1996. Most releases on the label have been by Berne, though some have been by Berne's associates and bandmates. Steve Byram has designed and illustrated the artwork for many of the label's albums.
Hank Roberts is an American jazz cellist and vocalist. He plays the electric cello, and his style is a mixture of rock, jazz, avant-garde, folk, and classical influences. He emerged with the downtown New York City jazz scene of the 1980s and is associated with its post-modern tendencies.
Donald Byron is an American composer and multi-instrumentalist. He primarily plays clarinet but has also played bass clarinet and saxophone in a variety of genres that includes free jazz and klezmer.
Human Feel is a jazz quartet that consists of clarinet/tenor saxophone player Chris Speed, bass clarinet/alto saxophone player Andrew D'Angelo, guitarist Kurt Rosenwinkel, and drummer Jim Black. The group combines elements of free jazz, chamber music, and alternative rock and features extensive improvisation in their performances. Gary W. Kennedy noted their "tight-knit interaction and exploratory style."
Clarence "Herb" Robertson is a jazz trumpeter and flugelhornist. He was born in New Jersey and attended the Berklee School of Music. He has recorded solo albums and has worked as a sideman for Tim Berne, Anthony Davis, Bill Frisell, George Gruntz, Paul Motian, Bobby Previte, and David Sanborn.
Tom Rainey is an American jazz drummer.
Skúli Sverrisson is an Icelandic composer and bass guitarist.
Mark Feldman is an American jazz violinist.
Gordon McChesney "Ches" Smith is an American musician, whose primary instruments are drums, percussion, and vibraphone.
Michael Formanek is an American jazz bassist born in San Francisco, California, United States, and associated with the jazz scene in New York.
Drew Gress is an American jazz double-bassist and composer born in Trenton, New Jersey and raised in the Philadelphia area.
Ben Perowsky is an American drummer, percussionist, composer, and music producer. He is the drummer on stage in the 8 TONY award winning Broadway musical Hadestown. Perowsky leads the Ben Perowsky Trio, Moodswing Orchestra and Upstream Trio with Chris Speed and John Medeski. He is a founding member of the electric jazz group Lost Tribe. A prolific sideman, Perowsky has performed with Roy Ayers, John Scofield, The Lounge Lizards, Joan As Police Woman, Elysian Fields, Darryl Jenifer, Uri Caine, Dave Douglas, Mike Stern, Bob Berg, Walter Becker, Steven Bernstein., and John Zorn.
Marc Ducret is a contemporary avant-garde jazz guitarist who frequently collaborates with saxophonist Tim Berne.
Unwound is a live 3-CD set by saxophonist Tim Berne's Bloodcount which was recorded in 1996 and released on Berne's Screwgun label. The album was the label's first release following the demise of Berne's previous label JMT Records.
Andrew D'Angelo is an American jazz musician.
Hilmar Jensson is an Icelandic guitarist.
Michael Blake is a Canadian-born American saxophonist, composer and arranger. Blake is based in New York City where he has led a robust career leading his own bands. As a sideman Michael has performed with Charlie Hunter, The Lounge Lizards, Steven Bernstein/Henry Butler and the Hot 9, Ben Allison and Ray LaMontagne. The New York Times jazz critic Ben Ratliff wrote,"Mr. Blake, on tenor especially, is an endlessly engaging improviser, and an inquisitive one".
