Chris Potter

Saxophone and clarinet player, born on January 1st, 1971. At the age of 3 he began playing with a guitar and piano. He took up the alto sax at the age of 10 and played his first jazz gig at the age of 13. At age 15 he was spotted by Marian McPartland and was asked to join a tour with a unit such as Woody Herman’s. He kept with schooling and attended, New York’s, the New School, and then Manhattan School of Music. Graduating from Manhattan in 1993, Potter began a long series of sideman activities with top names like the Mingus Big Band, Paul Motian, Ray Brown, Jim Hall, James Moody, Dave Douglas, Mike Mainieri and many more. In 1994 he was signed by Concord Records and recorded five CDs. His final Concord CD, 1998’s Vertigo, was named one of the year’s top ten CDs by both Jazziz and The New York Times. He also performed on Steely Dan’s Grammy-nominated, gold album Two Against Nature, touring with them in 1994, which also resulted in the live CD, Alive in America. He received his own Grammy nomination for Best Instrumental Jazz Solo for his work on Joanne Brackeen’s Pink Elephant Magic.