Jazz Articles about Chris Walden

Chris Walden Big Band: Home of My Heart

by Eric J. Iannelli
May 24, 2005

Recorded several years ago, in late 2002, Home of My Heart sounds as if it could have been--were it not for its handful of latter-day charts by eighties pop supernova Christopher Cross and film composer John Williams--recorded several decades earlier. The prevailing sound is classic big band, delighting in the force of its multitudes while consistently spotlighting its individual soloists.Walden, who first made a name for himself in Europe writing for the German National Youth Jazz Orchestra and ...

The Chris Walden Big Band: Home of My Heart

by Jack Bowers
March 18, 2005

One doesn't often hear a big band album in which the arrangements literally steal the show. Here's one where they do. Make no mistake, German-born composer/arranger Chris Walden has mustered a world-class ensemble for his debut album, abundantly equipped with staunch team players and killer soloists; even so, it is his superlative charts that carry the day and earn the blue ribbon.

Simply put, Walden is a terrific arranger who readily enlivens themes by composers as diverse as Ray Noble ...

Chris Walden Big Band: Home of My Heart

by Dan McClenaghan
March 13, 2005

German-born, Los Angeles-based composer/arranger/flugelhornist Chris Walden looks way too young to be this good at a task as daunting as big band writing. He looks almost too young to be sitting in with the band, though he is pushing the ripe old age of forty. But he started early at the art, writing big band arrangements while he was still in high school, and later putting together the charts for the Frankfurt Radio Big Band and the RIAS Big Band. ...