Jazz Articles about Chris Walden

Chris Walden Big Band & St. John's Choir: Kurt Marti Suite

by Jack Bowers
August 30, 2007

It's hard to wrap one's arms around this CD by composer/arranger Chris Walden. On the one hand, Walden has coupled his intrepid ensemble of talented southern California sidemen with the 100-member St. John's Choir from Hamburg, Germany (his hometown), to set to music works by the renowned Swiss poet/lyricist Kurt Marti. On the other, the playing time is only 36:55--less than half a disc's worth--and that includes a five-minutes-plus “bonus track, the late Michael Brecker's “Slings and Arrows.

Setting that ...

Chris Walden: Big Band Magic With No Bounds

by Victor L. Schermer
September 25, 2006

Chris Walden is a highly gifted and creative composer and arranger who is equally at home writing and conducting music for film, TV, and jazz venues. Based in Los Angeles, he came to the U.S. from Germany in 1996, where, in his twenties, he had already established a fine reputation in multiple aspects of the music business. His recent Grammy nominations for his debut big band CD Home of My Heart (Origin, 2005) and the release of the follow-up CD, ...

The Chris Walden Big Band: No Bounds

by Jack Bowers
July 23, 2006

Any way you slice it, it's not easy for a big band to earn a Grammy Award nomination. Composer/arranger Chris Walden's debut album, Home of My Heart, received not one but two, for Best Large Jazz Ensemble and Best Instrumental Arrangement. One year later, Walden returns with another strong contender, No Bounds, showcasing eleven of his exemplary charts performed by an all-star ensemble of Los Angeles-area studio/big band musicians.

Walden, who is originally from Germany, is buoyed on this new ...

The Chris Walden Big Band: No Bounds

by Jim Santella
July 12, 2006

For his sophomore release, trumpeter Chris Walden has written big band arrangements for several old chestnuts, several fresh originals and a few rare gems. His program sparkles with an accessible ambience. The combination of several vocal selections, a balance of orchestral instruments and big band sounds, and stellar soloing from this lineup of Los Angeles all-stars ensures that No Bounds will compare favorably with Walden's highly successful debut, Home of My Heart.

A contemporary arrangement filled with dramatic ...

Chris Walden Big Band: No Bounds

by Dan McClenaghan
July 11, 2006

Chris Walden has been on a heck of a roll lately, with two Grammy nods for last year's Home of My Heart, one of the finest big band efforts of the year. He also in did the orchestrations for the acclaimed Michael Bolton set Bolton Swings Sinatra.Home of My Heart deserved all the accolades that came its way; No Bounds is an even stronger disc. Walden is a genius at freshening up the big band genre with sparkling ...

Chris Walden Big Band: No Bounds

by Victor L. Schermer
July 2, 2006

No Bounds is as tasteful a big band album as you're likely to hear today, at a time when large jazz ensembles compete in virtuousity, intensity, range and--unfortunately--volume. Every note on the disc is well-placed, in tune and, even when dissonant, pleasing to the ears. That's because Walden knows music from top to bottom, having been a trumpeter himself, and composed, arranged and conducted for big bands, the cinema, television and star vocalists.

Growing up in Hamburg, Germany, Walden acquired ...

Chris Walden Big Band: Winter Games

by Edward Blanco
March 14, 2006

The 2006 Winter Olympics in Torino, Italy have passed into history, leaving us with many golden moments and some musical memories from composer David Foster, who wrote the Olympic theme music. German composer/arranger and bandleader Chris Walden, who has written over 400 arrangements for big band and symphony orchestra throughout his career, penned his own jazzy version of Foster's theme in tribute to the Olympics.

In a followup to his 2005 Grammy-nominated Home of My Heart (for best ...