Chris Speed
Chris Speed (born February 12, 1967) is an American saxophonist, clarinetist, and composer.[1]
Chris Speed
Early life and career[edit]
Speed grew up outside of Seattle and studied classical piano and clarinet from an early age.[1] He later began studying jazz, took up the tenor saxophone, and performed in a local big band while in high school.[1]
Speed attended the New England Conservatory of Music in Boston, where he founded Human Feel with Andrew D'Angelo, Jim Black, and Kurt Rosenwinkel;[1] the band continued performing after his move to New York.[2]
Speed leads or co-leads the groups Pachora (with Jim Black, Skúli Sverrisson, and Brad Shepik),[3] The Clarinets (with Oscar Noriega and Anthony Burr),[4] yeah NO (with Black, Sverrisson, and Cuong Vu),[5] Trio Iffy (with Ben Perowsky and Jamie Saft),[6] Endangered Blood (with Black, Noriega and Trevor Dunn),[7] the Chris Speed Trio (with Dave King and Chris Tordini)[8] and Broken Shadows (with Tim Berne, Reid Anderson and Dave King) a band dedicated to reinterpreting the music of Ornette Coleman and Julius Hemphill.
The co-led quartet Pachora was influenced by Balkan and Middle Eastern rhythms[3] and said to be "immersed in Eastern European and Moroccan music",[9] performing originals and Greek, Bulgarian and Turkish works. Speed also performed and recorded with the Balkan brass and jazz band Slavic Soul Party!.[10]
Speed is a founding member of the avant-garde jazz groups Bloodcount (Tim Berne, Jim Black, Michael Formanek),[11] The Claudia Quintet (John Hollenbeck, Matt Moran, Red Wierenga, and Drew Gress),[12] AlasNoAxis (Black, Sverrisson, and Hilmar Jensson),[13] and Heroic Frenzies (Craig Taborn, Dave King, and Chris Lightcap).[14]
In 2006, Speed created Skirl Records, a label dedicated to Brooklyn-based creative music.[15]
In August 2021, Speed joined The Bad Plus.[16] They released an album, entitled simply The Bad Plus, on September 30, 2022.[17]