Chris Greene Quartet

SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 24

TIME: 4:00-5:00PM

Venue: Hyde Park Bank. 1525 East 53rd St.

CHRIS GREENE QUARTET

It will come as no surprise to fans of the super-eclectic Chris Greene Quartet that their newest album, Play Harder, draws from a wealth of sources. This is a band, after all, that shifts easily from blues and swing to funk, hip-hop, rock, and reggae. Their previous albums have featured tunes by Madonna, John Coltrane, Sting, Charles Mingus, and lounge music maestro Martin Denny. On Play Harder, Greene and company have turned their attention to classic Duke Ellington, country legend Hank Williams, and fusion/smooth jazz great George Duke. 

While Chris Greene was growing up, his mother blasted Motown at her monthly card parties while his father played a lot of funk, soul, and disco. Meanwhile, young Chris absorbed all manner of pop styles watching MTV. He took up the saxophone at age ten and began studying it seriously when he was sixteen. He mainly played alto saxophone, and didn’t know much about improvisation at first. Then, he discovered—and soon became devoted to—Coltrane. Then, he went to Indiana University to study under revered music educator David Baker and the much-admired jazz studies department chair Thomas Walsh. There, he learned how to practice. How to break things down. How to solve problems. 

Returning home to Chicago, he continued his education by reaching out to established artists including genius innovator Steve Coleman. Partly as a personal challenge to catch up with the motherlode of modern jazz history, he began concentrating on tenor saxophone. He formed New Perspective and played in a wide assortment of other jazz, soul, pop, and prog-rock groups, and played with Common, The Temptations, Brazilian soul star Ed Mottam, and Andrew Bird. 

In 2005, he formed the quartet which a Chicago Reader poll once ranked Chicago’s Best Jazz Band. Described by AllAboutJazz as "a post-bop maverick intent on shaking things up for the mainstream," Greene has been committed from the get-go to the pleasure principle. Whether his quartet is hugging tradition or engaging in experimentation, it radiates a deep sense of well-being. Play Harder is the quartet’s ninth album. 

The musicians: 

Chris Greene – saxophones

Damian Espinosa – piano

Marc Piane – bass

Steve Corley – drums