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Chris Greene

Saxophonist and composer Chris Greene was born in Evanston, IL. He spent his formative years in the award-winning Evanston High School Wind and Jazz Ensembles. As a teenager he began to play professionally with many local pop/rock and jazz bands. Greene eventually went to Bloomington, IN to attend the prestigious Indiana University Jazz Studies program and studied with renowned professor and cellist David Baker. Greene returned to Chicago in 1994 and has since collaborated with some of the nation’s most creative and versatile musicians. As a performer, Greene can be seen with many different groups - in many different genres. He also leads his own critically-acclaimed group, the Chris Greene Quartet. He has also performed or recorded with the following artists: Common, The Temptations, Eric Roberson, Ed Motta, Steve Coleman & Five Elements, Maysa Leak, Ten City, Sheena Easton, Steve Cole, Michael Manson, Andrew Bird, The J. Davis Trio, Chris Rob, Vic Lavender, Jesse De La Pena, Liquid Soul and The Mighty Blue Kings.

Chris Greene has also been featured as an actor in several episode of the hit FOX-TV show, "Empire" and he also composed the score for the Chicago Childrens’ Theatre’s recent production of “Bud, Not Buddy.

Awards

2018 Chicago Music Awards winner - "Best Jazz Entertainer" 2017 Chicago Reader "Best of Chicago" Poll - "Best Jazz Band" DownBeat Magazine Editor's Choice


Tags

7
Album Review

Chris Greene: PlaySPACE 2: Play Harder

Read "PlaySPACE 2: Play Harder" reviewed by Bridget A. Arnwine


When a musician begins his set with a warning much like that issued in a pharmaceutical advertisement for mesothelioma, it's probably a safe assumption that those in attendance should brace themselves for what's to come. When that musician is Evanston, IL based bandleader and saxophonist Chris Greene one thing is certain: even after heeding the warning, there's still no way to fully prepare for the powerfully deliberate yet fun and funky approach to playing that each member of the Chris ...

2
Album Review

Chris Greene Quartet: PlaySPACE 2: Play Harder

Read "PlaySPACE 2: Play Harder" reviewed by Hrayr Attarian


Accomplished saxophonist Chris Greene, with his warm sound and easily recognizable style, is a stalwart of the Chicago music scene. Over the past decade he has led the same quartet of equally brilliant musicians who have honed a seamless camaraderie. On his 13th release, the ebullient PlaySPACE 2: Play Harder, Greene and his band stretch out on five tracks which, despite being recorded at three different sessions, make for a very cohesive set, one which crackles with the energetic spontaneity ...

2
Album Review

Chris Greene: PlaySCAPE

Read "PlaySCAPE" reviewed by C. Michael Bailey


Saxophonist Chris Greene's twelfth recording is a solid hard bop affair, an appointed EP, that begins intensely and never gives up. The angular, “Blues for Dr. Fear" kicks things off, funky and sharp-edged. Greene plays as much Michael Brecker as Hank Mobley squeezing every bit of grease from this extralean music. “Thunder Snow" is mid-1960s Joe Henderson swing, Greene jousting with drummer Steve Corley. Things descend (or ascend, if you will) to the realm of John Coltrane's classic quartet. And ...

8
Album Review

Chris Greene Quartet: Music Appreciation

Read "Music Appreciation" reviewed by Hrayr Attarian


Saxophonist Chris Greene has a unique approach to jazz that, although well within the mainstream, is elegantly innovative. He colors his creative ideas and motifs with bluesy hues, endows them with an urbane sense of swing and enriches them with solid, improvisational rigor. His complex pieces flow with a deceptive simplicity yet make for a rewarding and stimulating listening experience. His two disc Music Appreciation demonstrates all these attributes and more as Greene leads his working quartet through ...

3
Album Review

Chris Greene Quartet: A Group Effort

Read "A Group Effort" reviewed by Edward Blanco


In October, 2011, Chicago saxophonist Chris Greene's quartet stepped up to the stage--The Mayne Stage, to be exact, the entertainment and dining venue located in Chicago's Rogers Park--to perform a live set of sizzling post-bop ultimately captured for its first in-concert CD, A Group Effort. With an introduction from pianist/musical director William Kurk, the show kicks off with the high-energy original “Bride of Mr. Congeniality," moved along by the dash of funk which Greene also employs elsewhere in the set. ...

259
Album Review

Chris Greene Quartet: Merge

Read "Merge" reviewed by C. Michael Bailey


Chicago-native Chris Greene keeps stylistic company with Wayne Escoffery, AJ Kluth, and Ricky Sweum, in that he plays a saxophone with sharp edges when necessary and smooth ones when called upon. His previous recordings, On The Verge (as Chris Greene's New Perspective, Self Produced, 2002) and Soul and Science, Volume 1 (as the Chris Green Quartet, Single Malt Recordings, 2007) show Greene as a post-bop maverick intent on shaking things up for the mainstream. He continues his efforts in this ...

260
Album Review

Chris Greene Quartet: Merge

Read "Merge" reviewed by Bridget A. Arnwine


The Chris Greene Quartet is willing to try anything once. No matter the genre of music, put it in this group's capable hands and bear witness to music taking on a whole new style and feel. On the group's third recording, Merge, saxophonist Chris Greene leads his quartet of four years all over the musical spectrum. Tackling songs by the likes of Billy Strayhorn, Johnny Green, Madonna and The Black Eyed Peas, as well as original material from Greene and ...

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2

Recording

Chicago Saxophonist Chris Greene Continues To Explore New Musical Territories On "Boundary Issues," Set For April 14 Release

Chicago Saxophonist Chris Greene Continues To Explore New Musical Territories On "Boundary Issues," Set For April 14 Release

Source: Terri Hinte Publicity

Saxophonist Chris Greene, a fixture on the Chicago scene dedicated to transcending the stylistic and structural borders of jazz, continues to discover new musical territory on his new CD Boundary Issues. Set for April 14 release on Single Malt Recordings, the album is Greene’s eighth with the long-standing quartet he formed in 2005 featuring pianist Damian Espinosa, bassist Marc Piane, and, since 2011, drummer Steve Corley. Joining the core quartet as guests on several tracks are saxophonist Marqueal Jordan, known ...

50

Recording

The Chris Greene Quartet to Release New Live CD "A Group Effort."

The Chris Greene Quartet to Release New Live CD "A Group Effort."

Source: Two for the Show Media

Whenever the Chris Greene Quartet takes the stage, jazz and rock listeners notice something immediately: they're sitting next to each other, and that doesn't happen all that often on today's scene. As jazz strives to find new audiences, the CGQ is already admired for its ability to “cross over" and reach music-lovers raised on pop—but without “selling out" the formative principles of the jazz tradition. With several CDs and a DVD to their credit, the quartet now stands poised at ...

121

Recording

Chris Greene Quartet Releases Soul and Science 2: Electric Boogaloo

Chris Greene Quartet Releases Soul and Science 2:  Electric Boogaloo

Source: Cheryl Hughey Promotions

"Straight Ahead Jazz with an Edge" “...rivals some of what is played on contemporary jazz music stations across the United States. Soul and Science 2: Electric Boogaloo is certainly a formidable follow-up from a formidable band." - AllAboutJazz.com Soul and Science 2: Electric Boogaloo, the new CD by the Chris Greene Quartet, is now available for purchase at www.DustyGroove.com and at its Chicago headquarters (1120 N. Ashland). Copies may also be purchased at CDBaby.com, Amazon.com, ITunes, and CandyRat.com. And the ...

"...a post-bop maverick intent on shaking things up for the mainstream." —AllAboutJazz.com

“Greene has some set of chops…Keep an eye on this kid…” —Marc Myers, Jazzwax.com

"Greene continues to evolve as one of the best young players in the city." - JazzChicago.net

Photos

Concerts

Music

Recordings: As Leader | As Sideperson

PlaySPACE 2: Play...

Single Malt Recordings
2022

buy

PlaySCAPE

Self Produced
2019

buy

Boundary Issues

Single Malt Recordings
2017

buy

Music Appreciation

Single Malt Recordings
2014

buy

A Group Effort

Single Malt Recordings
2012

buy

Merge

Single Malt Recordings
2010

buy

Videos

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