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Chris Bakriges

Chris Bakriges brings many years of performing experience to his performing Jazz Standards and original compositions. Born in Detroit Michigan he grew up near Motown Studios where he first learned to improvise and perform Jazz and Blues. He was influenced by McCoy Tyner and Jean Luc Ponty in those days and formed Critical Theory which fused both these progressive voices and performed in festivals as far away as India, Pakistan, and Turkey. Bakriges was the music director for WAMC’s “Jazz Alive” on Northeast Public Radio in the early 90’s, the only live jazz radio program broadcast in the U.S. at that time, and performed with the likes of Dakota Staton, Kenny Burrell, Dave Holland, David Darling, Bobby McFerrin, Anthony Braxton, Santi Debriano, Danny Gottlieb and Mark Egan. He has been touring of late with his Matisse Jazz Project alongside Grammy Award winning violinist Meg Okura, inspired by the artwork of the great 20th century colorist, and Clear and Present, a quartet that features Jay Hoggard, Avery Sharpe, and Billy Arnold.

Awards

Jazz Power Initiative Cultural Awareness Education Certificate, New York, NY Certificate of Presenter Recognition, Jazz Music and its Creation in the Evolving Commons, Keene State College, The Evolving Commons Conference, Keene, NH Arts/Humanities-Academic Affairs Performance Award, U of Colorado, Boulder, CO International Association of Jazz Educators, Outstanding Service to Jazz Education, New York, NY Certificate of Appreciation, Paramount Theater’s Evening of Jazz, Castleton State University, Castleton, VT


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Performance / Tour

Chris Bakriges Curates Series at Miles' Jazz Cafe in Midtown, New York

Chris Bakriges Curates Series at Miles' Jazz Cafe in Midtown, New York

Source: Christopher Bakriges

Miles' Cafe 212 E. 52nd St. 3Fl. (b/2nd & 3rd Ave.) New York, NY 10022 E/V train to 53rd St. Lexington, 6 train to 51st St. TEL: (212) 371-7657 Chris Bakriges Curates Series at Miles' Jazz Cafe in Midtown, New York Pianist, composer, educator Dr. Chris Bakriges discovers ways to generate interest in jazz with under-served constituencies. Chris heads the music curriculum at both Elms College in Massachusetts and the ...

"Each of the band members gets chances to peek out of the collective playing, but what grabbed me most were Bakriges’ melodic themes, the engaging framework on which everything dances…swinging and colorful compositions with a breeziness that bring you back for repeated listens” – Ken Maiuri, Daily Hampshire Gazette (U.S.A)

"Christopher Bakriges Quartet keeps tempo swinging on ‘Clear and Present’… There isn’t one minute of lag time, either. Whether it’s a profound, unfurling bass solo (“Door Of No Return”), or a feeling out on Bakriges’ set of keys, the quartet plays with a constantly moving ulterior motive of swing, as if playing the last gig of their lives, unwilling for the night to end.” – Carol Banks Weber, AXS

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