From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Chris Potter (born January 1, 1971) is an American jazz saxophonist, composer, and multi-instrumentalist.

Born in Chicago, Illinois, Potter spent most of his childhood in Columbia, South Carolina where his mother taught psychology at the University of South Carolina. He exhibited an early interest in all kinds of music and quickly became a prodigy, mastering several instruments including guitar and piano, and finally gravitating toward the alto and tenor saxophone.

Potter played his first professional jazz gig at age 13 and quickly developed a devoted local following. He attended college in New York City, first at the New School, and later at Manhattan School of Music. He currently resides in New York.

Potter has released a number of albums as leader and has performed and recorded with many leading musicians including Kenny Werner, Red Rodney, Marian McPartland, the Mingus Big Band, Paul Motian, Ray Brown, Jim Hall, James Moody, Dave Douglas, Joe Lovano, Wayne Krantz, Mike Mainieri, Steve Swallow, Steely Dan, Dave Holland, Joanne Brackeen, and many more.

His 1998 CD Vertigo was named one of the year's top ten jazz CDs by both Jazziz magazine and The New York Times. He was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Jazz Instrumental Solo for his work on the Joanne Brackeen recording Pink Elephant Magic. His 2004 CD Lift: Live At The Village Vanguard was named one of the year's ten best new jazz recordings by Fred Kaplan of Slate. His most recent CD,Underground, on which he records with an electric, more "groove"-based ensemble featuring Craig Taborn on keyboard; Wayne Krantz on guitar; Nate Smith on drums and Adam Rogers, guitar on tracks 6 and 9), was released on January 31, 2006.

• Presenting Chris Potter (1994, Criss Cross Records) with John Swana, Kevin Hays, Christian McBride, & Lewis Nash
• Concentric Circles (1994, Concord Records)
• Sundiata (1995, Criss Cross) with Kevin Hays, Doug Weiss, & Al Foster
• Pure (1995, Concord)
• Moving In (1996, Concord) with Brad Mehldau, Larry Grenadier, & Billy Hart
• Unspoken (1997, Concord) with John Scofield, Dave Holland, & Jack DeJohnette
• Vertigo (1998, Concord) with Kurt Rosenwinkel, Scott Colley, & Billy Drummond
• Gratitude (2001, Verve Records) with Kevin Hays, Scott Colley, & Brian Blade
• Traveling Mercies (2002, Verve) with John Scofield, Adam Rogers, Kevin Hays, Scott Colley, & Bill Stewart
• Lift: Live At The Village Vanguard (2004, Sunnyside Records) with Kevin Hays, Scott Colley & Bill Stewart
• Underground (2006, Sunnyside) with Adam Rogers, Craig Taborn, Wayne Krantz, & Nate Smith
• ''Follow the Red Line: Live at the Village Vanguard (2007, Sunnyside) with Adam Rogers, Craig Taborn, & Nate Smith

• Official website
• Biography from the Sunnyside Records website