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Chris Kelsey

Called “a provocateur in the best sense of the term: a player (and writer) who thrives on pushing buttons,” by Derek Taylor of All About Jazz, and “at the forefront of the fiery reedists today,” by Gregory Applegate Edwards at Gapplegate Music Review, Chris Kelsey’s music embraces the qualities of individualism and innovation that have always defined the best jazz. His work defies easy description.

Kelsey first made his reputation with a series of albums for the C.I.M.P. imprint in the ‘90s and ‘00s, as well as several for his own Saxofonis Music and Tzazz Krytyk labels. From the early ‘90s, he maintained an active presence on the Downtown NYC music scene, performing at many of the city’s most important venues, including frequent appearances at the Knitting Factory. He began a parallel career as a music journalist, contributing to such publications as Jazziz, JazzTimes, The All Music Guide to Jazz, and others, as well as serving as an Associate Editor for the website Jazz.com under the author/pianist Ted Gioia.

Kelsey began playing alto sax at the age of ten in his home state of Oklahoma. After graduating with a Bachelors of Music Education from the University of Central Oklahoma, Kelsey moved to New York City, where he became involved with the vital Downtown jazz and new music scene. In 1993 he produced Stomp Own It, by his Almost Jazz Trio, for his own Saxofonis Music label. A series of CDs on the CIMP label followed, featuring such NYC experimental jazz musicians as Steve Swell, Dominic Duval, Jay Rosen, and Francois Grillot.

In addition to the Knitting Factory, Kelsey has played many other New York venues for jazz and new music, including Roulette Intermedia, P.S. 122, and the legendary CB’s 313. He’s also performed at many of the city’s summer festivals, including the Knit’s “What is Jazz? Festival; also the Bell Atlantic, Heineken, and Texaco New York Jazz Festivals.

Kelsey’s latest album latest is The Electric Miles Project, a self-produced labor of love by his band What I Say, featuring original interpretations of music from Miles Davis’s mid-1970s period. Kelsey recently published a book of his original compositions, entitled Attack of the Contrafact. He is currently the director of instrumental music at Trinity-Pawling School, and lives in Dutchess County, NY with his wife Lisa and their two children, son Jasper and daughter Meret.

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Bailey's Bundles

Jazz Quanta January: Chris Kelsey and Tomas R. Einarsson

Read "Jazz Quanta January:  Chris Kelsey and Tomas R. Einarsson" reviewed by C. Michael Bailey


There are two jazz traditions represented in Jazz Quant January, the freedom principle of saxophonist Christ Kelsey and cool complexity of Latin jazz by way of Icelander bassist Tomas R. Einarsson. Two traditions transplanted and allowed to flourish. Chris Kelsey Duets | NYC / Woodstock Tzazz Krytyk 2015 What happens with free jazz stalwarts saxophonist Chris Kelsey meets one Dom Minasi, the guitarist of the future past? A freedom ...

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Album Review

Chris Kelsey/Lewis Porter: Free: Kelsey/Porter Duo Plays Ornette, Vol. 1

Read "Free: Kelsey/Porter Duo Plays Ornette, Vol. 1" reviewed by Dan Bilawsky


Intrepid saxophonist and recovering jazz journalist Chris Kelsey went to his longtime friend, renowned author-educator-pianist Dr. Lewis Porter, with the idea of recording some of Ornette Coleman's music. That's how Free came to be, plain and simple. But nothing is really that simple. Kelsey and Porter worked through this material for a year, allowing the music to have ample time to settle into the mind and soul, and then they recorded these seldom-performed pieces in March of 2015. The album ...

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Extended Analysis

Chris Kelsey & What I Say: The Electric Miles Project

Read "Chris Kelsey & What I Say: The Electric Miles Project" reviewed by Jeff Dayton-Johnson


Trumpeter Miles Davis' post-Bitches Brew (Columbia, 1970), pre-hiatus (1975-1981) electric music--dense, loud, dark, funky, vast--has posed problems for musicians. The Yo Miles! collective, led by trumpeter Wadada Leo Smith and guitarist Henry Kaiser, gamely approached it as a repertoire: these are songs, they seemed to say; let's just play them (and so they did, on albums like Upriver, Cuneiform, 2005). Bassist/impresario Bill Laswell, meanwhile, approached the releases of the period as post-performance collage, woven together from miles of Ampex tape; ...

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Album Review

Chris Kelsey & What I Say: The Electric Miles Project

Read "The Electric Miles Project" reviewed by Mehdi El Mouden


Chris Kelsey and What I Say say it all. The Electric Miles Project is definitely well thought-out, projected, masterfully arranged, and meticulously performed. Contrary to Miles Davis' school of thought, improvisation on this project seems not to have been part of the agenda. Kelsey clearly knows exactly how to pay tribute to the late legend and, to this purpose, avoids messing with the master: no trumpeter is featured on the album. To play in Miles Davis' shadow or to do ...

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Album Review

Chris Kelsey & What I Say: The Electric Miles Project

Read "The Electric Miles Project" reviewed by C. Michael Bailey


It takes no shortage of fortitude for contemporary artists to take on the electric Miles Davis. Banking off of his seminal Bitches' Brew (Columbia, 1970), the trumpeter headed for looser, louder and funkier fare, culminating in the twin two-disc releases, Agartha (Columbia, 1975) and Pangea (Columbia, 1976), two shows performed in the afternoon and evening of February 1, 1975 at Japan's Osaka Festival Hall. Laden with electric guitar, seditious percussion and an assortment of effects, Davis spins noisy magic off ...

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Album Review

The Chris Kelsey 4: Not Cool {. . .As In, "The Opposite of Paul Desmond"}

Read "Not Cool {. . .As In, "The Opposite of Paul Desmond"}" reviewed by Jerry D'Souza


Growing up as the son of a jazz saxophonist, saxophonist Chris Kelsey was influenced by his father's tastes in jazz. Charlie Parker, John Coltrane and Sonny Rollins were among those favorite artists, but Paul Desmond was not. Kelsey first heard Desmond on Bridge Over Troubled Water (A&M, 1969), his ode to Simon and Garfunkel, which was played just once in the Kelsey household. Desmond did not stir any emotions, though Kelsey admits that Desmond was “a fine player in his ...

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Album Review

Chris Kelsey Quartet: Renewal

Read "Renewal" reviewed by Derek Taylor


Sometimes a hiatus is the best answer to impending burnout. Soprano saxophonist Chris Kelsey recognized such signs and decided to shelve his horn in response to the stressors that were closing in. Also a writer, he seems to have hung up his quill for a spell as well. Time away from the rigors of creative improvised music allowed for the sort of perspective and focus that's encapsulated in his new album's single word title.

Kelsey's no neophyte to ...

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Recording

Chris Kelsey - Not Cool (Tzazz Krytyk)

Chris Kelsey - Not Cool (Tzazz Krytyk)

Source: Master of a Small House

As playfully glib as ever, saxophonist Chris Kelsey couches his latest effort in an oppositional framework certain to arch a few eyebrows and maybe even roll a few eyes. His commentary to the disc commences with a caveat clarifying that his decision to sight Paul Desmond in his crosshairs isn't strictly motivated by disdain. Sure, he still attaches signifiers like “sappy", “wimpy" and “nerdy" to the much-lauded surname, but he's also careful to concede the Caucasian altoist's stature as “an ...

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Radio

The Jazz Session #144: Chris Kelsey

The Jazz Session #144: Chris Kelsey

Source: Michael Ricci


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Performance / Tour

Dom Minasi * Chris Kelsey * Tomas Ulrich Thursday, September 8 at Deep Listening Space

Dom Minasi * Chris Kelsey * Tomas Ulrich Thursday, September 8 at Deep Listening Space

Source: All About Jazz

August 29, 2005 To: Listings/Critics/Features From: JAZZ PROMO SERVICES Press Contact: JIM EIGO, [email protected] CDM News Flash !! Dom Minasi * Chris Kelsey * Tomas Ulrich Thursday, September 8 at The New Vanguard Series at the gallery at Deep Listening Space, 75 Broadway(Historic Roundout), Kingston, New York. For reservations, please call (845) 338-5984. 8:30 PM http://www.deeplistening.org/ Upcoming: Thursday morning Sept.14 WKCR 1:30 AM Wed night (www.wkcr.org) Interview with Charles Blass..will bring some mixes from my new CD “Vampire's Revenge" Thursday, ...

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Performance / Tour

Dom Minasi /Chris Kelsey/Tomas Ulrich @ The Lucky Cat Lounge Thursday, July 21st, 9PM

Dom Minasi /Chris Kelsey/Tomas Ulrich @ The Lucky Cat Lounge Thursday, July 21st, 9PM

Source: All About Jazz

July 19, 2005 To: Listings/Critics/Features From: JAZZ PROMO SERVICES Press Contact: JIM EIGO, [email protected] Thursday, July 21st, 9PM Chris Kelsey, Dom Minasi & Tomas Ulrich @ The Lucky Cat Lounge 245 Grand St(between Driggs & Roebling sts.) Williamsburg,Brooklyn 718-782-0437 http://www.theluckycat.com 8pm The Steve Swell Trio with Steve Swell, Michael T.A. Thompson, Matt Heyner 10pm Now Music with Ras Moshe, Matt Heyner, Ravi Padmanaba ,Claire DeBrunner ,Steve Swell, Katie Down, Saco Yasuma, Todd Nicholson *CBGB'S - the last time!! Sunday, July ...

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Performance / Tour

Dom Minasi with the Chris Kelsey Quintet CBGB'S Downstairs Lounge Sunday July 17th 10PM

Dom Minasi with the Chris Kelsey Quintet CBGB'S Downstairs Lounge Sunday July 17th 10PM

Source: All About Jazz

July 13, 2005 To: Listings/Critics/Features From: JAZZ PROMO SERVICES Press Contact: JIM EIGO, [email protected] Sunday July 17th 10PM The Chris Kelsey Quintet featuring Chris Kelsey-soprano sax, Matt Lavelle-trumpet Dom Minasi-guitar, Francois Grillot-bass, Jay Rosen-drums @ • 313 Bowery• 212 677 0455 Upcoming Dates ! Thursday, July 21st, 9PM Chris Kelsey, Dom Minasi & Tomas Ulrich @ The Lucky Cat Lounge 245 Grand St(between Driggs & Roebling sts.) Williamsburg,Brooklyn 718-782-0437 http://www.theluckycat.com Sunday, July 31st Dom Minasi, Joe Giardullo, Ken Filiano, Roy ...

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Performance / Tour

The New Chris Kelsey Quintet, Saturday, July 17, CBGB's

The New Chris Kelsey Quintet, Saturday, July 17, CBGB's

Source: All About Jazz


Music

Recordings: As Leader | As Sideperson

Free: Kelsey/Porter...

Self Produced
2015

buy

The Electric Miles...

Self Produced
2013

buy

Not Cool

Point of Departure, WMPG-FM
2010

buy

The Crookedest...

CIMP Records
2008

buy

Videos

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