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Chris Greene Quartet: Conversance
by Bridget A. Arnwine
Saxophonist Chris Greene is back. The Evanston, IL native and his group the Chris Greene Quartet--comprising Greene on sax, Marc Piane on bass, Damian Espinosa on piano and Steve Corley on drums--recently released its newest project, titled “Conversance." The album is the first jazz recording released on the Pravda Records label in the label's forty-year history. According to the recording's press release, the Chicago-based indie rock label took a chance on Greene, but it feels more accurate to state that ...
Continue ReadingChris Greene: PlaySPACE 2: Play Harder
by Bridget A. Arnwine
When a musician begins his set with a warning much like that issued in a pharmaceutical advertisement for mesothelioma, it's probably a safe assumption that those in attendance should brace themselves for what's to come. When that musician is Evanston, IL based bandleader and saxophonist Chris Greene one thing is certain: even after heeding the warning, there's still no way to fully prepare for the powerfully deliberate yet fun and funky approach to playing that each member of the Chris ...
Continue ReadingChris Greene Quartet: PlaySPACE 2: Play Harder
by Hrayr Attarian
Accomplished saxophonist Chris Greene, with his warm sound and easily recognizable style, is a stalwart of the Chicago music scene. Over the past decade he has led the same quartet of equally brilliant musicians who have honed a seamless camaraderie. On his 13th release, the ebullient PlaySPACE 2: Play Harder, Greene and his band stretch out on five tracks which, despite being recorded at three different sessions, make for a very cohesive set, one which crackles with the energetic spontaneity ...
Continue ReadingChris Greene: PlaySCAPE
by C. Michael Bailey
Saxophonist Chris Greene's twelfth recording is a solid hard bop affair, an appointed EP, that begins intensely and never gives up. The angular, “Blues for Dr. Fear" kicks things off, funky and sharp-edged. Greene plays as much Michael Brecker as Hank Mobley squeezing every bit of grease from this extralean music. “Thunder Snow" is mid-1960s Joe Henderson swing, Greene jousting with drummer Steve Corley. Things descend (or ascend, if you will) to the realm of John Coltrane's classic quartet. And ...
Continue ReadingChris Greene Quartet: Music Appreciation
by Hrayr Attarian
Saxophonist Chris Greene has a unique approach to jazz that, although well within the mainstream, is elegantly innovative. He colors his creative ideas and motifs with bluesy hues, endows them with an urbane sense of swing and enriches them with solid, improvisational rigor. His complex pieces flow with a deceptive simplicity yet make for a rewarding and stimulating listening experience. His two disc Music Appreciation demonstrates all these attributes and more as Greene leads his working quartet through ...
Continue ReadingChris Greene Quartet: A Group Effort
by Edward Blanco
In October, 2011, Chicago saxophonist Chris Greene's quartet stepped up to the stage--The Mayne Stage, to be exact, the entertainment and dining venue located in Chicago's Rogers Park--to perform a live set of sizzling post-bop ultimately captured for its first in-concert CD, A Group Effort. With an introduction from pianist/musical director William Kurk, the show kicks off with the high-energy original “Bride of Mr. Congeniality," moved along by the dash of funk which Greene also employs elsewhere in the set. ...
Continue ReadingChris Greene Quartet: Merge
by C. Michael Bailey
Chicago-native Chris Greene keeps stylistic company with Wayne Escoffery, AJ Kluth, and Ricky Sweum, in that he plays a saxophone with sharp edges when necessary and smooth ones when called upon. His previous recordings, On The Verge (as Chris Greene's New Perspective, Self Produced, 2002) and Soul and Science, Volume 1 (as the Chris Green Quartet, Single Malt Recordings, 2007) show Greene as a post-bop maverick intent on shaking things up for the mainstream. He continues his efforts in this ...
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