Chris Speed (born February 12, 1967) is an American saxophonist, clarinetist, and composer.[1]
Chris Speed | |
|---|---|
 Chris Speed in Aarhus, Denmark 2010 | |
| Background information | |
| Born | February 12, 1967 Seattle, Washington, U.S. |
| Genres | jazz, improvisation |
| Occupation | Musician |
| Instrument(s) | tenor saxophone, clarinet |
| Labels | Skirl, Intakt |
| Website | www |
Early life and career
editSpeed 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]
Awards and honors
edit- Rising Star on clarinet, DownBeat magazine, 2004, 2005, 2006
- NEA composition grant in 1993
Selected discography
editas a leader
edit- Yeah No (Songlines, 1997)
- Deviantics (Songlines, 1999)
- Emit (Songlines, 2000)
- Iffy (Knitting Factory, 2000)
- Swell Henry (Squealer, 2004)
- Really OK (Skirl, 2014)
- Platinum On Tap (Intakt, 2017)
- Respect for Your Toughness (Intakt, 2019)
- Light Line (Intakt, 2021)
- Despite Obstacles (Intakt, 2023)
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 The Clarinets
- The Clarinets (Skirl, 2006)
- Keep On Going Like This (Skirl, 2011)
- No Pressure (Skirl, 2019)
with Endangered Blood
- Endangered Blood (Skirl, 2011)
- Work Your Magic (Skirl, 2013)
- Don't Freak Out (Skirl, 2018)
with Zeno De Rossi
- Ruins (Skirl, 2014)
with Broken Shadows
- Broken Shadows (Vinyl: Newvelle, 2019; CD and Digital: Intakt, 2021)
- Broken Shadows Live (Screwgun, 2021)
with The Bad Plus
- The Bad Plus (Edition Records, 2022)
as a sideman
editwith 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)
- Attention Spam (Screwgun, 2021)
- 5 (Screwgun, 2021)
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 The 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)
- Evidence Based (Flexatonic, 2021)
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 King
- Good Old Light (Sunnyside, 2011)
- Adopted Highway (Sunnyside, 2013)
- Surrounded by the Night (Sunnyside, 2016)
- Old TV (Self-released, 2023)
with Craig Taborn
- Daylight Ghosts (ECM, 2017)
- Compass Confusion (Pyroclastic Records, 2020) with Junk Magic
with others/selected
- Hilmar Jensson Dofinn (Jazzis, 1995)
- John Zorn Bar Kokhba (Tzadik, 1996)
- Ben Perowsky Ben Perowsky Trio (JazzKey Music, 1999)
- Myra Melford Above Blue (Arabesque, 1999)
- Curtis Hasselbring The New Mellow Edwards (Skirl, 2006)
- Ben Perowsky Esopus Opus (Skirl, 2009)
- Mary Halvorson Reverse Blue (Relative Pitch, 2014)
- Matt Mitchell Vista Accumulation (Pi, 2015)
- Howard Peach Howard Peach (El Negocito, 2015)
- Michael Formanek The Distance (ECM, 2016)
- Ben Perowsky Upstream (2019)
- Dejan Terzić Axiom Silent Dancer (C.A.M. Jazz, 2021)
Footnotes
edit- ^ a b c d 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.
- ^ 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. 24 March 2018. Retrieved 26 February 2021.
- ^ Collins, Troy (27 October 2006). "New Exit From Brooklyn: Chris Speed's Skirl Records". All About Jazz. Retrieved 1 September 2018.
- ^ "The Bad Plus Reformulates Again, Now as a Quartet with Ben Monder and Chris Speed". Wbgo.org. 17 August 2021.
- ^ "The Bad Plus". Thebadplus.com. 11 October 2022.