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Chris Massey

His sound is reminicent of a ressurection of Art Blakey fused with the modern sensibiliy and drive of Jeff "Tain" Watts.

About Me

Chris Massey is currently living in New York City,New York to follow his ambition of making a name for himself as a new breed of young talented player in the world of jazz. Growing up in small town Uniontown,Ohio where he picked up his first pair of drumsticks a the age of 9 he took his first steps into his musical career as a Jazz Performance major at Youngstown State University in 2000.

It was during this time he learned how to play “jazz”. Not in a classroom but from local legend Cedric Hobbs who had played with Charlie “Bird” Parker as a main drummer when ever Bird came to town and was the last of a dying breed of musician. It was during this time where Chris learned that jazz was not a music genre but a state of consciousness. In 2003 Chris began performing with world renounced artists such as former Jazz Messenger Donald Harrison Jr, Joe Lovano, The Cleveland Jazz Orchestra and many other great players.

Among performing Chris is also coming into his own as a composer and arranger. Gaining inspiration from notable drummer-composers such as Brian Blade and Jeff “Tain” Watts; Chris has began composing his first works in early 2001 with his 1st recorded composition piece “Gotham Nights” performed in 2005. Chris also has been teaching lessons of all age varieties from the skill ranges of beginner to advanced college since 1998.

Chris above all else is a modern drummer taught in the old tradition of swing; his ethos is to “put his sound” underneath a player and let the fire start to spread. He has played in a variety of venues in NYC such as Puppets, Smalls, Fat Cat, The Iridium, Cleopatra's Needle, The Garage, 55bar among others. Under his leadership his group “The Nue Jazz Project” just released his debut album Vibrainium due for release in 2010