Chris Speed
Chris Speed | |
---|---|
Background information | |
Born | Seattle, Washington, U.S. | February 12, 1967
Genres | Avant-garde jazz, free jazz, free improvisation |
Occupation(s) | Musician |
Instruments | Saxophone, clarinet |
Labels | Skirl |
Associated acts | Pachora, Human Feel, The Clarinets, yeah NO, Endangered Blood, Trio Iffy |
Website | www |
Chris Speed (born February 12, 1967) is an American saxophonist, clarinetist, and composer.[1]
Early life and career[]
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, 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] and the Chris Speed Trio (with Dave King and Chris Tordini).[8]
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 and Turkish works. Speed also performed and recorded with the Balkan brass and jazz band Slavic Soul Party!.[10]
Speed has performed with the avant-garde jazz groups Bloodcount (Tim Berne, Jim Black, Michael Formanek, and sometimes Marc Ducret),[11] The Claudia Quintet (John Hollenbeck, Matt Moran, Ted Reichman, and Drew Gress),[12] AlasNoAxis (Jim Black, Sverrisson, and Hilmar Jensson),[13] and Heroic Frenzies (Craig Taborn, Dave King, and Chris Lightcap).[14]
In 2006, Speed founded Skirl Records, a label dedicated to his musical community in Brooklyn.[1]
Awards and honors[]
- Rising Star on clarinet, DownBeat magazine, 2004, 2005, 2006
- NEA composition grant in 1993, 2004
Discography[]
As leader[]
- Yeah No (Songlines, 1997)
- Deviantics (Songlines, 1999)
- Emit (Songlines, 2000)
- Iffy (Knitting Factory, 2000)
- Swell Henry (Squealer, 2004)
- Jugendstil (ESP Disk, 2008)
- Really OK (Skirl, 2014)
- Ruins (Skirl, 2014)
- Platinum On Tap (Intakt, 2017)
- Respect for Your Toughness (Intakt, 2019)
With Human Feel
- Human Feel (Human Use, 1989)
- Scatter (GM, 1991)
- Welcome to Malpesta (New World 1994)
- Speak to It (Songlines, 1996)
- Galore (Skirl, 2007)
- Gold (Intakt, 2019)
With Pachora
- Pachora (Knitting Factory, 1997)
- Unn (Knitting Factory, 1998)
- Ast (Knitting Factory, 1999)
- Astereotypical (Winter & Winter, 2003)
With Endangered Blood
- Endangered Blood (Skirl, 2011)
- Work Your Magic (Skirl, 2013)
- Don't Freak Out (Skirl, 2018)
With The Clarinets
- The Clarinets (Skirl, 2006)
- Keep On Going Like This (Skirl, 2011)
- No Pressure (Skirl, 2019)
With others
- Broken Shadows with Broken Shadows (Newvelle, 2019)
- Buffalo Age with Buffalo Age (ILK Music, 2007)
- Smell the Difference with Tyft (Skirl, 2009)
- Plunge with Zeno De Rossi Sultry (El Gallo Rojo 2005)
As sideman[]
With Tim Berne
- Lowlife: The Paris Concert (JMT, 1995)
- Poisoned Minds: The Paris Concert (JMT, 1995)
- Memory Select: The Paris Concert (JMT, 1995)
- Unwound (Screwgun, 1996)
- Saturation Point (Screwgun, 1997)
- Discretion (Screwgun, 1997)
- Seconds (Screwgun, 2007)
- Insomnia (Clean Feed, 2011)
With Jim Black
- Alasnoaxis (Winter & Winter, 2000)
- Splay (Winter & Winter, 2002)
- Habyor (Winter & Winter, 2004)
- Dogs of Great Indifference (Winter & Winter, 2006)
- Houseplant (Winter & Winter, 2009)
- Antiheroes (Winter & Winter, 2013)
With Uri Caine
- Uri Caine Ensemble Plays Mozart (Winter & Winter, 2006)
- The Othello Syndrome (Winter & Winter, 2008)
- Rhapsody in Blue (Winter & Winter, 2013)
With Dave Douglas
- In Our Lifetime (New World/CounterCurrents, 1995)
- Sanctuary (Avant, 1997)
- Stargazer (Arabesque, 1997)
- Soul on Soul (RCA Victor, 2000)
- Witness (Bluebird, 2001)
- Freak In (Bluebird, 2002)
With Curtis Hasselbring
- The New Mellow Edwards (Skirl, 2006)
- Big Choantza (Skirl, 2009)
- Number Stations (Cuneiform, 2013)
With Claudia Quintet
- John Hollenbeck/The Claudia Quintet (CRI, 2001)
- I, Claudia (Cuneiform, 2004)
- Semi-Formal (Cuneiform, 2005)
- For (Cuneiform, 2007)
- Royal Toast (Cuneiform, 2010)
- What Is the Beautiful? (Cuneiform, 2011)
- September (Cuneiform, 2013)
- Super Petite (Cuneiform, 2016)
With John Hollenbeck
- A Blessing (Omnitone, 2005)
- Rainbow Jimmies (GPE, 2008)
With Dave King
- Good Old Light (Sunnyside, 2011)
- Adopted Highway (Sunnyside, 2013)
- Surrounded by the Night (Sunnyside, 2016)
With Myra Melford
- The Same River Twice (Gramavision, 1996)
- Above Blue (Arabesque, 1999)
- Where the Two Worlds Touch (Arabesque, 2004)
With Henning Sieverts Symmetry
- Symmetry (Pirouet, 2007)
- Blackbird (Pirouet, 2009)
With John Zorn
- Bar Kokhba (Tzadik, 1996)
- Filmworks IX: Trembling Before G-d (Tzadik, 2000)
- Voices in the Wilderness (Tzadik, 2003)
With others
- Slavic Soul Party, Bigger (Barbes, 2005)
- Laurie Anderson, Life On a String (Nonesuch, 2001)
- Anthony Braxton, Trillium R (Braxton House, 1999)
- Jakob Bro, Sidetracked (Loveland, 2005)
- Jakob Bro, Hymnotic/Salmodisk (Loveland, 2015)
- Jimmy Chamberlin, The Parable (Make, 2017)
- Mike Clark, Conjunction (Buckyball, 2001)
- Mark Dresser, Banquet (Tzadik, 1997)
- Mark Dresser, Eye'll Be Seeing You (Knitting Factory, 1998)
- Trevor Dunn, Four Films (Tzadik, 2008)
- James Emery, Spectral Domains (Enja, 1998)
- James Emery, Luminous Cycles (Between the Lines, 2000)
- Michael Formanek, Nature of the Beast (Enja, 1997)
- Michael Formanek, The Distance (ECM, 2016)
- Free Radicals, Our Lady of Eternal Sunny Delights (Rastaman Work Ethic 2000)
- Erik Friedlander, Chimera (Avant, 1995)
- Erik Friedlander, The Watchman (Tzadik, 1996)
- Jerry Granelli, Enter a Dragon (Songlines, 1998)
- Jerry Granelli, Crowd Theory (Songlines, 1999)
- Mary Halvorson, Reverse Blue (, 2014)
- Julia Holter, Loud City Song (Domino, 2013)
- Julia Holter, Have You in My Wilderness (Domino, 2015)
- Susie Ibarra, Flower After Flower (Tzadik, 2000)
- Hilmar Jensson, Dofinn (Jazzis, 1995)
- Sunny Kim, Painter's Eye (Sunnyside, 2012)
- Franz Koglmann, Venus in Transit (Between the lines, 2001)
- Lee Konitz, Jugendstil II (ESP Disk, 2010)
- Nguyen Le, Songs of Freedom (ACT, 2011)
- Susan McKeown, Bushes & Briars (Alula, 1998)
- Matt Mitchell, Vista Accumulation (Pi, 2015)
- Simon Nabatov, Plain (Clean Feed, 2020)
- Armen Nalbandian, Orbits (Blacksmith Brother, 2018)
- Armen Nalbandian, V (Blacksmith Brother, 2018)
- Marcin Oles, Walk Songs (Fenommedia, 2006)
- Orange Then Blue, While You Were Out (GM, 1994)
- Orange Then Blue, Hold the Elevator (GM, 1999)
- Ben Perowsky, Ben Perowsky Trio (JazzKey Music, 1999)
- Ben Perowsky, Esopus Opus (Skirl, 2009)
- Jamie Saft, Sovlanut (Tzadik, 2000)
- Ken Schaphorst, After Blue (Accurate, 1991)
- Ron Sexsmith, Other Songs (Interscope, 1997)
- Ron Sexsmith, Whereabouts (Interscope, 1999)
- Stone Temple Pilots, Perdida (Rhino, 2020)
- Craig Taborn, Daylight Ghosts (ECM, 2017)
- Nicholas Urie, Excerpts from an Online Dating Service (Red Piano, 2009)
- Cuong Vu, Vu-Tet (ArtistShare, 2007)
- Nils Wogram, Odd and Awkward (Enja, 2001)
- Cristina Zavalloni, The Soul Factor (Via Veneto, 2014)
Footnotes[]
- ^ Jump up to: a b c d e Fitzell, Sean (January 2012). "Feature: Chris Speed" (PDF). The New York City Jazz Record. Retrieved 26 February 2021.
- ^ Chinen, Nate (24 February 2006). "The Listings: Feb. 24 - March 2; Human Feel". The New York Times. Retrieved 26 February 2021.
- ^ Jump up to: a b Chinen, Nate (18 March 2010). "PACHORA: Cross-Cultural Rhythms Amid Relaxed Chemistry". The New York Times. Retrieved 26 February 2021.
- ^ Chinen, Nate (21 August 2008). "Jazz Listings". The New York Times. Retrieved 26 February 2021.
- ^ Ratliff, Ben (17 December 1999). "Chris Speed's Yeah No". The New York Times. Retrieved 26 February 2021.
- ^ Astarita, Glenn (1 May 2000). "Chris Speed Trio: Iffy". All About Jazz. Retrieved 26 February 2021.
- ^ Ratliff, Ben (6 March 2011). "New Jazz That Keeps an Ear Trained on the Past". The New York Times. Retrieved 26 February 2021.
- ^ Chinen, Nate (29 December 2016). "Pop, Rock and Jazz in NYC This Week". The New York Times. Retrieved 26 February 2021.
- ^ Ratliff, Ben (10 January 1998). "JAZZ REVIEW; Gleefully Rattling Around the World". The New York Times. Retrieved 26 February 2021.
- ^ Gottschalk, Kurt (19 January 2006). "Slavic Soul Party!: Bigger". All About Jazz. Retrieved 26 February 2021.
- ^ Kelman, John (20 October 2005). "Tim Berne's Bloodcount: Memory Select - The Paris Concert III". All About Jazz. Retrieved 26 February 2021.
- ^ Chinen, Nate (10 December 2009). "Jazz Listings". The New York Times. Retrieved 26 February 2021.
- ^ Nicholson, Stuart (25 April 2019). "Jim Black Alasnoaxis: Splay". JazzTimes. Retrieved 26 February 2021.
- ^ "Broken Shadows: Dave King, Reid Anderson, Tim Berne, Chris Speed". Arts + Literature Laboratory. Retrieved 26 February 2021.
External links[]
- 1967 births
- Living people
- Musicians from Seattle
- Free jazz saxophonists
- Free improvisation saxophonists
- American jazz saxophonists
- American male saxophonists
- Avant-garde jazz saxophonists
- 21st-century saxophonists
- 21st-century American male musicians
- American male jazz musicians
- Orange Then Blue members
- Human Feel members
- Intakt Records artists