Chris Cheek
| Chris Cheek | |
|---|---|
 Cheek at Moers Festival 2009 | |
| Background information | |
| Born |
September 16, 1968 St. Louis, Missouri, U.S. |
| Genres | Jazz, blues |
| Occupation(s) | Musician, bandleader |
| Instruments | Saxophone |
| Years active | 1992–present |
| Labels | Fresh Sound, Blue Music Group |
| Associated acts | Paul Motian, Brian Blade |
| Website | ChrisCheek.net |
Chris Cheek (born September 16, 1968) is an American jazz saxophonist. He has worked as a sideman on more than sixty albums, and has been bandleader of four solo albums.
Biography
Cheek was born and raised in St. Louis, Missouri, where his father was the director of a Junior high school band. Cheek began learning to play the alto saxophone at age eleven, and upon graduation from high school, he attended Webster University.[1] He studied at the Berklee College of Music under Joe Viola, Hal Crook, and Herb Pomeroy, and earned his bachelor's degree.[2] He moved to New York City in 1992, where he played with Paul Motian in the Electric Bebop Band, and co-founded Bloomdaddies with Seamus Blake.[1] He also played with Guillermo Klein, Mika Pohjola, Luciana Souza, David Berkman, and Jen Chapin.
His debut release as a leader, I Wish I Knew, appeared in 1997 and featured Kurt Rosenwinkel,[3] and by 2010, three more solo albums with Cheek as bandleader on the Fresh Sound label followed; A Girl Named Joe (1997), Vine (1999), and Blues Cruise, in 2005. In 2016 Cheek released his fifth CD Saturday Songs on the Sunnyside Records label. Cheek has appeared on more than one hundred albums as a session musician.
Discography
As leader
- I Wish I Knew with Kurt Rosenwinkel, Chris Higgins, Jorge Rossy (Fresh Sound, 1997)
- A Girl Named Joe with Mark Turner, Jorge Rossy, Dan Rieser, Ben Monder, Marc Johnson (Fresh Sound, 1997)
- Vine with Brad Mehldau, Kurt Rosenwinkel, Matt Penman, Jordi Rossy (Fresh Sound, 1999)
- Live at Jamboree: Guilty with Ethan Iverson, Ben Street, Jorge Rossy (Fresh Sound, 2000)
- Live at Jamboree: Lazy Afternoon with Ethan Iverson, Ben Street, and Jorge Rossy (Fresh Sound, 2002)
- Blues Cruise with Brad Mehldau, Jorge Rossy, Larry Grenadier, (Fresh Sound, 2006)
- Saturday Songs with Jorge Rossy, Steve Cardenas, Jaume Llombard, David Soler (Sunnyside Records, 2016)
As sideman
With Burak Bedikyan
- Leap of Faith (SteepleChase)
With Charlie Haden’s Liberation Music Orchestra
- Not In Our Name (Verve, 2004)
- Time/Life (Impulse!, 2011–2015 [2016])
With Guillermo Klein and Los Guachos
- Carrera (Sunnyside / Sunnyside Communications)
With Paul Motian and the Electric Bebop Band
- Reincarnation of a Love Bird (JMT, 1994)
- Flight of the Blue Jay (Winter & Winter 1996)
- Play Monk and Powell (Winter & Winter, 1998)
- Europe (Winter & Winter, 2000)
- Holiday for Strings (Winter & Winter, 2001)
- Garden of Eden (ECM, 2004)
References
- 1 2 Gary W. Kennedy, "Chris Cheek". The New Grove Dictionary of Jazz. 2nd edition, ed. Barry Kernfeld.
- ↑ Adler, David. "Chris Cheek: Biography". Allmusic. Retrieved March 20, 2011.
- ↑ Yanow, Scott. "I Wish I Knew: Review". Allmusic. Retrieved March 20, 2011.
