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Chris Dingman

Chris Dingman is a vibraphonist and composer known for his distinctive approach to the instrument: sonically rich and conceptually expansive, bringing listeners on a journey to a beautiful, transcendent place. He has been profiled by NPR, the New York Times, DRUM magazine and many other publications, and has received fellowships and grants from the Chamber Music America, the Doris Duke Foundation, New Music USA, and the Herbie Hancock Institute (formerly the Thelonious Monk Institute).

Dingman has done significant work with legendary artists Herbie Hancock and Wayne Shorter as well as next generation visionaries such as Jen Shyu, Ambrose Akinmusire, Steve Lehman, and many others, performing around the world including India, Vietnam, and extensively in Europe and North America. Hailed by the New York Times as a “dazzling” soloist and a composer with a “fondness for airtight logic and burnished lyricism,” the fluidity of his musical approach has earned him praise as “an extremely gifted composer, bandleader, and recording artist.” (Jon Weber, NPR).

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Album Review

Sara Caswell: The Way To You

Read "The Way To You" reviewed by Angelo Leonardi


Formalmente il precedente album da leader di Sara Caswell risale al 2005 (But Beautiful, Arbors) ma questa nuova incisione a suo nome non è il ritorno dopo una lunga pausa. Ci sono infatti le quattro incisioni --dal 2013 al 202-col trio cooperativo 9 Horses e la leadership condivisa con la sorella Rachel del 2014 (Alive in the Singing Air, Turtle Ridge) nel un gruppo comprendente Fred Hersch. Aggiungiamo poi la ventina di collaborazioni, anche discografiche, con Brad Mehldau, Miho Hazama, ...

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Album Review

Steve Lehman & Orchestre National de Jazz: Ex Machina

Read "Ex Machina" reviewed by Mark Corroto


Does Ex Machina settle the long-standing debate about whether saxophonist Steve Lehman is human or a replicant. Lehman and his approach to music may remind one of Rick Deckard, played by Harrison Ford in Blade Runner (1982) a movie adaptation of Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? by Philip K. Dick; Deckard was tasked with hunting and destroying humanoid replicants i.e. robots. The film never answers the question viewers might have as to whether Deckard is actually a replicant himself. ...

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Album Review

Steve Lehman: Ex Machina

Read "Ex Machina" reviewed by Karl Ackermann


When native New Yorker Steve Lehman releases an album, the odds are it will turn up at the top of year-end polls. If the composer & saxophonist has a formula for success, a listener would be unlikely to discern a methodology across his previous sixteen leader releases. What sets Lehman apart is a hunger for knowledge and risk. With advanced degrees which culminated in a doctorate from Columbia University, he is a researcher, scholar, and Professor of Music at The ...

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Album Review

Sara Caswell: The Way To You

Read "The Way To You" reviewed by Jack Bowers


Although The Way to You is heralded as Grammy-nominated violinist Sara Caswell's first album as a leader in more than seventeen years, it was actually recorded in 2019, roughly four years before its release date. Still, it is Caswell's first new album in quite a long time, and those who relish her tasteful and melodic violin should be grateful for that. Caswell leads her longtime working quartet here, with vibraphonist Chris Dingman sitting in on four of ...

Album Review

John Ellis, Andy Bragen: The Ice Siren

Read "The Ice Siren" reviewed by Angelo Leonardi


Dopo Dreamscapes e MOBRO John Ellis e Andy Bragen firmano un altro lavoro d'ampio respiro, che si snoda in equilibrio tra scrittura cameristica, jazz e opera contemporanea. Ellis ha scritto la musica e partecipa come strumentista; Bragen ha composto il libretto, ispirandosi al filone gothic fantasy di autori come Tim Burton ne “La sposa cadavere" (titolo originale The Corpse Bride). L'opera è stata commissionata dalla Jazz Gallery di New York e presentata lo scorso anno durante ...

Album Review

Miriam Elhajli: The Uncertainty of Signs

Read "The Uncertainty of Signs" reviewed by Angelo Leonardi


Miriam Elhajli è una giovane cantautrice e musicologa attiva a New York, influenzata dal folklore venezuelano e marocchino. Una tradizione assimilata in famiglia, che lei fonde con la sensibilità del jazz moderno e i modelli di Joni Mitchell e altre vocalist degli anni sessanta/settanta. Il suo debutto discografico Observations, inciso nel 2018 e pubblicato due anni dopo, ha colpito critica e pubblico per la bellezza delle sue composizioni, interpretate con un'intima colloquialità romantica che ricordava la Mitchell ...

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Radio & Podcasts

Chris Dingman, Bobby Hutcherson, Frank Sinatra and More

Read "Chris Dingman, Bobby Hutcherson, Frank Sinatra and More" reviewed by Joe Dimino


Right out of Kansas City, Neon Jazz presents episode 643 to calm the anxiety of the world. This show features Ray Mantilla and Onaje Allen Gumbs among others. Enjoy the jazz. Playlist JChris Dingman “Goddess" Embrace (Inner Arts Initiative) 00:00 Host talks 5:17 Bobby Hutcherson “Like Sonny'" Wise One (Kind of Blue Records) 7:08 Onaje Allan Gumbs “Betcha By Golly Wow" Just Like Yesterday (Fantasy Records) 12:48 Host talks 16:54 Hayes Greenfield “Because of You “Because of You ...

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Performance / Tour

Chris Dingman's Waking Dreams to perform at Cornelia Street Cafe on September 30th

Chris Dingman's Waking Dreams to perform at Cornelia Street Cafe on September 30th

Source: Chris Dingman

CHRIS DINGMAN'S WAKING DREAMS with Loren Stillman, Fabian Almazan, Aidan Carroll, and Eric McPherson WILL PERFORM SEPTEMBER 30th at CORNELIA STREET CAFE Thursday, September 30th, 2010 2 Sets: 8:30pm and 10pm Cornelia Street Café 29 Cornelia Street New York, NY 10014 Tickets: $10 Info: corneliastreetcafe.com “Dingman is downright hypnotic" —John Barron, All About Jazz “Dazzling... with a fondness for airtight logic and burnished lyricism" —Nate Chinen, New York ...

"The whole enterprise has the ring of the new, but you can imagine hearing it on WBGO, the local radio standard of the straight-ahead jazz tradition. ... Mr. Dingman's own style stands out: he uses it not just for melody and percussion but also for sound, in long, smoky chords beaming out like floodlighting. " - Ben Ratliff, The New York Times

"First and foremost, what you get from this record is this strong, very mysterious, very enthralling atmosphere throughout." - Kevin LeGendre, BBC 3, Jazz on 3

"The year is still relatively young, but Chris Dingman has already notched what's certain to be one of its watershed recordings: Waking Dreams, a gorgeous, contemplative sequence of moody original compositions played by an outstanding band." - Steve Smith, Time Out New York

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Primary Instrument

Vibraphone

Location

New York City

Willing to teach

Beginner to advanced

Credentials/Background

In addition to performing, Chris is an active educator, working with students of all ages and levels for the past 15 years. His extensive teaching experience includes presenting master classes at conservatories and schools both nationally and internationally (including Miami-Dade College, Trinity College, Vancouver Jazz Festival, the National Conservatory of Vietnam, Staffeldsgate College in Oslo, Norway, and more), directing a summer music camp for students ages 11-18, leading jazz ensembles at the high school and middle school levels, and teaching group percussion classes for both children and adults. In addition to presenting workshops and educational residencies throughout the world, he teaches vibraphone, composition, piano, percussion, and jazz improvisation in private lessons and group classes through Inner Arts Initiative and Play Music in Brooklyn, NY, and teaches vibraphone performance at The New School University.

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Music

Recordings: As Leader | As Sideperson

Ex Machina

Pi Recodings
2024

buy

Futuro

Self Produced
2023

buy

The Way To You

Anzic Records
2023

buy

The Uncertainty of...

Self Produced
2022

buy

The Ice Siren

Parade Light
2020

buy

The Subliminal and...

Inner Arts Initiative
2015

buy

South Shore

From: The Way To You
By Chris Dingman

Clear the Rain

From: Waking Dreams
By Chris Dingman

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