Chris Potter
A world-class soloist, accomplished composer and formidable bandleader, saxophonist Chris Potter has emerged as a leading light of his generation. Down Beat called him "One of the most studied (and copied) saxophonists on the planet" while Jazz Times identified him as "a figure of international renown." Jazz sax elder statesman Dave Liebman called him simply, "one of the best musicians around," a sentiment shared by the readers of Down Beat in voting him second only to tenor sax great Sonny Rollins in the magazine's 2008 Readers Poll.
A potent improvisor and the youngest musician ever to win Denmark's Jazzpar Prize, Potter's impressive discography includes 15 albums as a leader and sideman appearances on over 100 albums. He was nominated for a Grammy Award for his solo work on "In Vogue," a track from Joanne Brackeen’s 1999 album Pink Elephant Magic, and was prominently featured on Steely Dan’s Grammy-winning album from 2000, Two Against Nature. He has performed or recorded with many of the leading names in jazz, such as Herbie Hancock, Dave Holland, John Scofield, the Mingus Big Band, Jim Hall, Paul Motian, Dave Douglas, Ray Brown and many others.
His most recent recording, Ultrahang, is the culmination thus far of five years’ work with his Underground quartet with Adam Rogers on guitar, Craig Taborn on Fender Rhodes, and Nate Smith on drums. Recorded in the studio in January 2009 after extensive touring, it showcases the band at its freewheeling yet cohesive best.
Since bursting onto the New York scene in 1989 as an 18-year-old prodigy with bebop icon Red Rodney (who himself had played as a young man alongside the legendary Charlie Parker), Potter has steered a steady course of growth as an instrumentalist and composer-arranger. Through the '90s, he continued to gain invaluable bandstand experience as a sideman while also making strong statements as a bandleader-composer-arranger. Acclaimed outings like 1997’s Unspoken (with bassist and mentor Dave Holland, drummer Jack DeJohnette and guitarist John Scofield), 1998’s Vertigo, 2001’s Gratitude and 2002’s Traveling Mercies showed a penchant for risk-taking and genre-bending. "For me, it just seemed like a way of opening up the music to some different things that I had been listening to but maybe hadn’t quite come out in my music before," he explains.
Potter explored new territory on 2004’s partly electric Lift: Live at the Village Vanguard (with bassist Scott Colley, drummer Bill Stewart and keyboardist Kevin Hays) then pushed the envelope a bit further on 2006’s Underground (with guitarist Wayne Krantz, electric pianist Craig Taborn and drummer Nate Smith). As he told Jazz Times: "I've wanted to do something more funk-related...music that seems to be in the air, all around us. But also keep it as free as the freest jazz conception."
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Ethnographies of Jazz
Radio & Podcasts
- Chris Potter: What Influences the Influencer?
- A Jazz Immuno-Booster: Part 4
- Weather Report, Frank Gambale, Alec Machacek and more
- Tenor Titans: The Many Sides of Chris Potter
- New releases from Chris Potter Circuits Trio, Benjamin Croft, Michael Whalen,...
- Chris Potter Circuits Trio, Aaron Lebos Reality, Zane Carney, Gerald Gradwohl...
Live Review
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Music Education Monday: Master classes with saxophonist Chris Potter
Russ Nolan
saxophone, tenorFrank Macchia
composer/conductorTassos Spiliotopoulos
guitarRex Richardson
trumpetDave Mullen
saxophone, tenorBen Britton
saxophoneChris Engel
saxophone, altoVelocity
band/orchestraAldo Salvent
saxophone, tenorAlex Hahn
saxophone, altoJesse Dietschi
bass, acousticNick Rousseau
guitarBenjamin Boone
saxophoneAnders Bast
saxophone, tenorWaxwing
band/orchestraJon Bentley
saxophone, tenorJoan Hutton
saxophoneOleksandr Kolosii
saxophone, tenorKenta Shimakawa
guitarIan Michael Brown
pianoFaris Ishaq
fluteAdam Nolan
saxophoneAnton Chekurov
saxophone, altoSophia Smith
saxophoneMax Plattner
drumsClaire Cope
pianoDavid Bernot
saxophone, tenorRohan Buch
saxophonePhotos
Album Discography
Little Scorpio
From: Pride and JoyBy Chris Potter
Point of View Redux
From: BreakthroughBy Chris Potter