Chris Cheek
American jazz saxophonist
Musical artist
Chris Cheek, 2013
Christopher Carson Cheek (born September 16, 1968) is an American jazz saxophonist.
Biography
Cheek was born in St. Louis, Missouri ,[ 1] 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 , and David Berkman .[ 1]
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. Two albums as co-leader – Lazy Afternoon and Guilty – were released by Blue Moon in 2002.[ 4] In 2016 another CD, Saturday Songs , was released by Sunnyside Records [ 5] and recorded at Supertone Records, Valencia. Criss Cross Jazz have also released two Cheek albums with co-leader Seamus Blake.[ 6] Cheek has appeared on more than one hundred albums as a session musician .
Discography
As leader/co-leader
Year recorded
Title
Label
Year released
Personnel
1996–97
I Wish I Knew
Fresh Sound
1997
Quartet, with Kurt Rosenwinkel (guitar), Chris Higgins (bass), Jorge Rossy (drums)
1997
A Girl Named Joe
Fresh Sound
1998
With Mark Turner (tenor sax), Ben Monder (guitar), Marc Johnson (bass), Jorge Rossy and Dan Rieser (drums)
1999
Vine
Fresh Sound
2000
Quintet, with Brad Mehldau (piano, Fender Rhodes), Kurt Rosenwinkel (guitar), Matt Penman (bass), Jorge Rossy (drums)
2000
Guilty
Blue Moon
2002
Quartet, co-led with Ethan Iverson (piano), Ben Street (bass), Jorge Rossy (drums); in concert
2000
Lazy Afternoon
Blue Moon
2002
Quartet, co-led with Ethan Iverson (piano), Ben Street (bass), Jorge Rossy (drums); in concert
2005
Blues Cruise
Fresh Sound
2006
Quartet, with Brad Mehldau (piano), Larry Grenadier (bass), Jorge Rossy (drums)
2013
Reeds Ramble
Criss Cross Jazz
2014
Co-led with Seamus Blake (tenor sax); quintet, with Ethan Iverson (piano), Matt Penman (bass), Jochen Rueckert (drums)
2015
Let's Call the Whole Thing Off
Criss Cross Jazz
2016
Co-led with Seamus Blake (tenor sax); quintet, with Ethan Iverson (piano), Matt Penman (bass), Jochen Rueckert (drums)
2015
Saturday Songs
Sunnyside
2016
Quintet, with Steve Cardenas (guitar), David Soler (pedal steel guitar), Jaume Llombard (bass), Jorge Rossy (drums, vibes, marimba)
As member
The Bloomdaddies
With Seamus Blake , Jesse Murphy, Jorge Rossy and Dan Reiser
The Bloomdaddies (Criss Cross Jazz, 1996) – recorded in 1995
Racer X (self-released, 1998)
Mosh For Lovers (Fresh Sound New Talent, 2002) – recorded in 2001
As sideman
With Frank Carlberg
The Crazy Woman (Accurate, 1995)
Variations on a Summer Day (Fresh Sound New Talent, 2000)
In the Land of Art (Fresh Sound New Talent, 2005)
State of the Union (Fresh Sound New Talent, 2006)
Uncivilized Ruminations (Red Piano)
With Jen Chapin
Revisions - Songs of Stevie Wonder (Chesky, 2009)
Live at the Bitter End (Purple Chair Music, 1999)
With Alan Ferber
March Sublime (Sunnyside, 2013) – recorded in 2012
Jigsaw (Sunnyside, 2017)
With Stephane Furic
Kishinev (Soul Note, 1990)
The Twitter Machine (Soul Note, 1992)
Crossing Brooklyn Ferry (Soul Note, 1995)
Music for 3 (Soul Note, 1997)
Jugendstil (ESP-Disk, 2008)
Jugendstil II (ESP-Disk, 2010)
With Charlie Haden 's Liberation Music Orchestra
With Guillermo Klein
Los Guachos II (Sunnyside, 1999)
Los Guachos III (Sunnyside, 2002)
Filtros (Sunnyside, 2008)
Carrera (Sunnyside, 2012)
Los Guachos V (Sunnyside, 2016)
With Chris Lightcap 's Bigmouth
Epicenter (Clean Feed, 2015)
Deluxe (Clean Feed, 2010)
With Paul Motian and the Electric Bebop Band
With Wolfgang Muthspiel
In and Out (Amadeo, 1993)
Daily Mirror (Material, 2000)
With Mika Pohjola
The Secret of the Castle (Blue Music Group, 1997)
Announcement (Blue Music Group, 1997)
With Rudder
Matorning (19/8, 2009)
Rudder (19/8, 2007)
With others
Live at the Bimhuis - Wild Man Conspiracy feat. Chris Cheek 2018
Burak Bedikyan , Leap of Faith (SteepleChase, 2015) – recorded in 2014
Brooklyn Boogaloo Blowout, The Boog At Sunny's (Story Sound, 2017)[2CD] – live recorded in 2016
FOX, Pelican Blues' (Jazz&People, 2016)
Jared Gold , Intuition (Posi-Tone, 2012)
Stephane Huchard, Panamerican (Jazz Village, 2013)
Brad Mehldau , Finding Gabriel (Nonesuch, 2019) – recorded in 2017-18
Pierre Perchaud, Waterfalls (Gemini, 2012)
Luciana Souza , The Poems of Elizabeth Bishop and Other Songs (Sunnyside, 2000)
Steve Swallow , Into the Woodwork (XtraWATT/ECM , 2013) – recorded in 2011
Miguel Zenón , Identities are Changeable (Miel Music, 2014)
References
^ a b c d 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 .
^ Corroto, Mark (September 12, 2002). "Cheek/Iverson/Street/Rossy: Lazy Afternoon/Guilty" . AllAboutJazz .
^ Brady, Shaun (December 2016). "Together (and Apart) Again". DownBeat . p. 64.
^ Blanco, Edward (August 29, 2016). "Seamus Blake / Chris Cheek: Let's Call the Whole Thing Off" . AllAboutJazz .
External links
International National Artists Other