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Chris Lewis

Chris Lewis is a multi award winning saxophonist, composer, educator, and bandleader. Known for his bold artistic voice and dynamic leadership, Lewis simultaneously leads his own quartet while maintaining an active schedule as a sideman. He is highly sought after by masters of the music, as well as his contemporaries.

Lewis is a member of the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra with Wynton Marsalis and has performed with artists including Herbie Hancock, Michael Bublé, Eric Reed, Terell Stafford, and Jeff “Tain” Watts, contemporaries Julius Rodriguez and Sean Mason, and premier ensembles such as the Maria Schneider Orchestra, John Beasley’s MONK’estra, the Vanguard Jazz Orchestra, the Mingus Big Band, the Count Basie Orchestra, and The Gil Evans Project.  At the age of 28, Lewis can be heard on over 30 recordings.  He can be seen in television series like The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, The Godfather of Harlem, and The Gilded Age, as well as a prominent feature in Levi’s Vintage Fall campaign. 

A dedicated educator, Lewis teaches students of all ages. Offering his expertise in saxophone, improvisation, and ensemble performance, he continues to help shape the future of jazz both on and off the bandstand.  He’s served as a guest artist, clinician, and adjudicator for a host of jazz festivals and competitions, and maintains a private studio of students worldwide.


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Album Review

Chris Oatts: Personalities

Read "Personalities" reviewed by Victor L. Schermer


Saxophonist Chris Oatts is a graduate of the jazz program at Temple University's Boyer College of Music and Dance and the nephew of revered saxophonist—and faculty member of Temple University—Dick Oatts. This reviewer heard Chris Oatts at Chris' Jazz Café (similarity in the names purely coincidental) in September, 2021, with his quintet featuring one of his teachers and mentors, Terell Stafford, on trumpet. In that set, Oatts stayed within the bebop/hard bop traditions and showed exceptional sophistication, inventiveness, and resilience ...

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Music

Recordings: As Leader | As Sideperson

Chapter One

Jazz Bird Records
2025

buy

Compton's Finest

Savant Records
2023

buy

Holidays

Sunnyside Records
2023

buy

The Southern Suite

Blue Engine Records
2023

buy

Personalities

BCM&D Records
2022

buy

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