CHRIS SPEED - sax tenore, clarinetto

Nato a Seattle nel 1967, ha iniziato lo studio della musica classica all'età di cinque anni con il piano , cui all'età di undici anni si è aggiunto il clarinetto. Durante il liceo ha iniziato a interessarsi al sax tenore, proseguendo i suoi studi presso il New England Conservatory di Boston. In quel periodo è stato uno dei fondatori del gruppo Human Feel, col quale ha inciso diversi cd, e si avvicina alla musica Rom dell'est europeo, dalla cui influenza verà stimolato a formare la band Pachora, comprendente Jim Black, Skuli Sverrisson e Brad Shepik, un gruppo di evidenti risonanze balcaniche che ha inciso 3 dischi per la Knitting Factory. Residente a New York dal 1992, Speed ha collaborato con i gruppi di diversi esponenti di punta dell'improvvisazione più avanzata, tra cui quelli di Tim Berne, Myra Melford, Mark Dresser, e Steven Bernstein. Attivo anche alla testa di propri gruppi, come il trio Iffy, con Jamie Saft e Ben Perowsky, Chris Speed ha inoltre collaborato tra gli altri con la band Alas No Axis di Jim Black, il sestetto di Dave Douglas, Susie Ibarra, la Satoko Fujii Orchestra, Matt Moran's Slavic Soul Party, Jerry Granelli, e ha preso parte alla registrazione di oltre settanta dischi.

Chris Speed is a composer, clarinetist and saxophonist living in Brooklyn, NY. His bands include Human Feel, yeah NO, Trio Iffy , Pachora and The Clarinets. He is a member of Jim Black’s Alas No Axis and John Hollenbeck’s Claudia Quintet.
Speed was born in Seattle in 1967 and graduated from the New England Conservatory in 1990. In 1992 he moved to NYC where he joined Tim Berne’s Bloodcount. Throughout the nineties Speed worked with many pioneering bands in the creative new music/downtown scene including the Dave Douglas Sextet, Myra Melford’s Same River Twice, Erik Freidlander’s Chimera, John Zorn’s Bar Kokhba and Mark Dresser’s trio with Anthony Coleman. During this time he also began pursuing his interest in East European folk music, forming Pachora in 1992, and traveling throughout Bulgaria, Greece, Turkey, Syria, and Macedonia. Speed is considered one of the leading NYC musicians linking jazz and creative improvisation with Eastern European and Middle Eastern folk music. Currently, he works with Uri Caine’s Bach, Mahler, and Mozart projects, as well as Ben Perowsky’s quartet.
Chris was named the rising star clarinetist in Downbeat magazine for 2004 and 2005. In July 2004 he was the special guest at the Copenhagen International Jazz Festival, working with ten different cutting edge Danish groups. In April 2006, he launched Skirl Records, a label dedicated to Brooklyn based creative music.

Discografia

2006 The Clarinets (Skirl)
2004 Swell Henry (Squealer)
2000 Emit (Songlines)
2000 Trio Iffy (kfr))
1999 Deviantics (Songlines)
1997 yeah, NO (Songlines)

with pachora
2003 Astereotypical (Winter and Winter)
2000 Ast (kfr)
1999 Unn (kfr)
1997 Pachora (kfr)

with human feel
1996 Speak To It (Songlines)
1994 Welcome to Malpesta (New World/Countercurrents)
1992 Scatter (GM Recordings)
1989 Human Feel (Human Use)

COLLABORATIONS with
Tim Berne's bloodcount - Lowlife (JMT) 1995
Tim Berne's bloodcount - Poisoned Minds (JMT) 1995
Tim Berne's bloodcount - Memory Select (JMT) 1995
Tim Berne's bloodcount - Unwound (Screwgun) 1996
Tim Berne's bloodcount - Discretion (Screwgun) 1997
Tim Berne's bloodcount - Saturation Point (Screwgun) 1997
Jim Black - Alas No Axis (Winter and Winter) 2000
Jim Black ANA - Splay (Winter and Winter) 2002
Jim Black ANA - Habyor (Winter and Winter) 2004
Jim Black ANA - Dogs Of Great Indiferrence (Winter and Winter) 2006
Jakob Buchanan Sextet - i (Buchanan Records/PladeKisten) 2006
Zeno de Rossi - Sultry (Splasch) 2001
Zeno de Rossi - Plunge (ElGalloRojo) 2005
Dave Douglas - Freak In (BMG / Bluebird) 2003
Dave Douglas - Witness (BMG / Bluebird) 2001
Dave Douglas - Soul on Soul (BMG / RCA Victor Records) 2000
Dave Douglas - Sanctuary (Avant)1997
Dave Douglas - Stargazer (Arabesque) 1997
Dave Douglas - In Our Lifetime (New World/Countercurrents) 1995
Mark Dresser - Banquet (Tzadik) 1997
Mark Dresser - Eye'll Be Seeing You (Knitting Factory Records) 1998
Erik Friedlander - Chimera (Avant) 1995
Erik Friedlander - The Watchman (Tzadik) 1996
Erik Friedlander - Iza (MP3.com) 1996
Curtis Hasselbring - The New Mellow Edwards (Skirl) 2006
John Hollenbeck - The Claudia Quintet (CRI) 2001
John Hollenbeck/Claudia Quintet - I, Claudia (Cuneiform) 2004
John Hollenbeck/Claudia Quintet - Semi Formal (Cuneiform) 2005
John Hollenbeck Large Ensemble - A Blessing (OmniTone) 2005
Hilmar Jensson - Dofinn (Jazzis) 1995
Briggan Krauss - Good Kitty (kfr) 1996
Myra Melford - The Same River, Twice (Gramavision) 1996
Myra Melford - Above Blue (Arabesque) 1999
Myra Melford - Where the Two Worlds Touch (Arabesque) 2004
Slavic Soul Party - In Makedonija (KFR) 2002
Orange Then Blue - While You Were Out (GM Recordings) 1993
Orange Then Blue - Hold the Elevator (GM Recordings) 1999
Ben Perowsky- Ben Perowsky Trio 1999
Jamie Saft - Sovlanut (Tzadik) 2000
Dejan Terzic - Underground 2005
John Zorn - Bar Kokhba (Tzadik) 1996
John Zorn -Trembling Before G-d (Tzadik) 2000

 
PROJECTS old and new with:
Andrew Drury - A Momentary Lapse 2003
James Emery - Spectral Domains (Enja) 1998
James Emery - Luminous Cycles (between the lines) 2000
Susie Ibarra - Flower after Flower (Tzadik) 2000
Raetus Flisch - Missing Beat (Brambus) 1998
Satoko Fujii Orchestra - Jo (Buzz-Records) 1999
Satoko Fujii Orchestra - Double Take (East Works) 2000
Jerry Granelli and Badlands - Enter, a Dragon (Songlines) 1998
Jerry Granelli and Badlands - Crowd Theory (Songlines) 1999
Franz Koglmann - Venus in Transit (between the lines) 2001
Ken Schaphorst - After Blue (Accuraterecords) 1991
Nils Wogram - Odd And Awkward - (Enja) 2000
Frank Carlberg - Variations on a Summer Day (Fresh Sounds) 2000

 
GUEST with:
Jakob Bro - Sidetracked (Loveland Records) 2005
Slavic Soul Party - Bigger (barbés records) 2005
Full Metal Klezmer - Shachor (El Gallo Rojo) 2005
Simone Guiducci Gramelot Ensemble - Chorale - 2002
Laurie Anderson - Life On A String (Nonesuch) 2001
Lucia Pulido - Lucia Pulido - (Intuition) 2001
Simone Guiducci - D'Jango's Jungle (Splasch) 2001
The Free Radicals - Our Lady Of Eternal Sunny Delights 2000
Brooklyn Above Ground - BAG 1 (bag 01)
Ron Sexsmith - Whereabouts (Interscope)1999
Goats and Trees - When the Morning Comes (Rudy) 1998
Mitchell Froom - Dopamine (Atlantic) 1998
Susan McKeown - Bushes and Briars (Alula) 1998
Michael Formanek - Nature of the Beast (Enja) 1997
Ron Sexsmith - Other Songs (Interscope) 1997
Clark/Jackson/Wagnon - Conjunction (Buckyball)
Sarah Pillow - Nuove Musiche (Buckyball)

 
COMPILATIONS
Tribute to Irving Stone - (Tzadik) 2004
Ben Perowsky - Great Jewish Music: Jacob do Bandolim (Tzadik) 2004
Pachora - John Zorn: Masada Anniversary edition vol. 2 - Voices in the Wilderness (Tzadik) 2003
Live at Tonic - with Dougie Bowne (Ton 101) 2002
Pachora - A Tribute to Dave Brubeck (Avant) 2000
Claudia Quintet - The Alt.Coffee Tapes (Katahdin) 1998
Chimera - Great Jewish Music: Burt Bacharach (Tzadik) 1997