Chris Speed

{{Short description|American saxophonist, clarinetist, and composer}}

{{Infobox musical artist

| name = Chris Speed

| image = Chris-speed DSC09904.jpg

| caption = Chris Speed in Aarhus, Denmark 2010

| birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1967|2|12}}

| birth_place = Seattle, Washington, U.S.

| genre = jazz, improvisation

| occupation = Musician

| instrument = tenor saxophone, clarinet

| years_active =

| label = Skirl, Intakt

| associated_acts = The Bad Plus, Broken Shadows, Pachora, Human Feel, Endangered Blood

| website = {{URL|www.chrisspeed.com}}

}}

Chris Speed (born February 12, 1967) is an American saxophonist, clarinetist, and composer.{{cite web |last1=Fitzell |first1=Sean |title=Feature: Chris Speed |url=http://nycjazzrecord.com/issues/tnycjr201201.pdf |website=The New York City Jazz Record |access-date=26 February 2021 |date=January 2012}}

Early life and career

Speed grew up outside of Seattle and studied classical piano and clarinet from an early age.{{cite web |last1=Fitzell |first1=Sean |title=Feature: Chris Speed |url=http://nycjazzrecord.com/issues/tnycjr201201.pdf |website=The New York City Jazz Record |access-date=26 February 2021 |date=January 2012}} He later began studying jazz, took up the tenor saxophone, and performed in a local big band while in high school.

Speed attended the New England Conservatory of Music in Boston, where he founded Human Feel with Andrew D'Angelo, Jim Black, and Kurt Rosenwinkel; the band continued performing after his move to New York.{{cite web |last1=Chinen |first1=Nate |title=The Listings: Feb. 24 - March 2; Human Feel |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2006/02/24/arts/movies/the-listings-feb-24-march-2-human-feel.html |website=The New York Times |access-date=26 February 2021 |date=24 February 2006}}

Speed leads or co-leads the groups Pachora (with Jim Black, Skúli Sverrisson, and Brad Shepik),{{cite web |last1=Chinen |first1=Nate |title=PACHORA: Cross-Cultural Rhythms Amid Relaxed Chemistry |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/19/arts/music/19pachora.html |website=The New York Times |access-date=26 February 2021 |date=18 March 2010}} The Clarinets (with Oscar Noriega and Anthony Burr),{{cite web |last1=Chinen |first1=Nate |title=Jazz Listings |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/22/arts/music/22jazz.html |website=The New York Times |access-date=26 February 2021 |date=21 August 2008}} yeah NO (with Black, Sverrisson, and Cuong Vu),{{cite web |last1=Ratliff |first1=Ben |title=Chris Speed's Yeah No |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1999/12/17/movies/pop-and-jazz-guide-925136.html |website=The New York Times |access-date=26 February 2021 |date=17 December 1999}} Trio Iffy (with Ben Perowsky and Jamie Saft),{{cite web |last1=Astarita |first1=Glenn |title=Chris Speed Trio: Iffy |url=https://www.allaboutjazz.com/iffy-chris-speed-knitting-factory-review-by-glenn-astarita.php |website=All About Jazz |access-date=26 February 2021 |date=1 May 2000}} Endangered Blood (with Black, Noriega and Trevor Dunn),{{cite web |last1=Ratliff |first1=Ben |title=New Jazz That Keeps an Ear Trained on the Past |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/07/arts/music/endangered-blood-and-starlicker-review.html |website=The New York Times |access-date=26 February 2021 |date=6 March 2011}} the Chris Speed Trio (with Dave King and Chris Tordini){{cite web |last1=Chinen |first1=Nate |title=Pop, Rock and Jazz in NYC This Week |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2016/12/29/arts/music/pop-rock-and-jazz-in-nyc-this-week.html |website=The New York Times |access-date=26 February 2021 |date=29 December 2016}} and Broken Shadows (with Tim Berne, Reid Anderson and Dave King) a band dedicated to reinterpreting the music of Ornette Coleman and Julius Hemphill.

The co-led quartet Pachora was influenced by Balkan and Middle Eastern rhythms and said to be "immersed in Eastern European and Moroccan music",{{cite web |last1=Ratliff |first1=Ben |title=JAZZ REVIEW; Gleefully Rattling Around the World |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1998/01/10/arts/jazz-review-gleefully-rattling-around-the-world.html |website=The New York Times |access-date=26 February 2021 |date=10 January 1998}} performing originals and Greek, Bulgarian and Turkish works. Speed also performed and recorded with the Balkan brass and jazz band Slavic Soul Party!.{{cite web |last1=Gottschalk |first1=Kurt |title=Slavic Soul Party!: Bigger |url=https://www.allaboutjazz.com/bigger-slavic-soul-party-barbes-records-review-by-kurt-gottschalk.php |website=All About Jazz |access-date=26 February 2021 |date=19 January 2006}}

Speed is a founding member of the avant-garde jazz groups Bloodcount (Tim Berne, Jim Black, Michael Formanek),{{cite web |last1=Kelman |first1=John |title=Tim Berne's Bloodcount: Memory Select - The Paris Concert III |url=https://www.allaboutjazz.com/memory-select-the-paris-concert-iii-tim-berne-winter-and-winter-review-by-john-kelman.php |website=All About Jazz |access-date=26 February 2021 |date=20 October 2005}} The Claudia Quintet (John Hollenbeck, Matt Moran, Red Wierenga, and Drew Gress),{{cite web |last1=Chinen |first1=Nate |title=Jazz Listings |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/11/arts/music/11jazz.html |website=The New York Times |access-date=26 February 2021 |date=10 December 2009}} AlasNoAxis (Black, Sverrisson, and Hilmar Jensson),{{cite web |last1=Nicholson |first1=Stuart |title=Jim Black Alasnoaxis: Splay |url=https://jazztimes.com/archives/jim-black-alasnoaxis-splay/ |website=JazzTimes |access-date=26 February 2021 |date=25 April 2019}} and Heroic Frenzies (Craig Taborn, Dave King, and Chris Lightcap).{{cite web |title=Broken Shadows: Dave King, Reid Anderson, Tim Berne, Chris Speed |url=https://artlitlab.org/events/broken-shadows-dave-king-reid-anderson-tim-berne-chris-speed |website=Arts + Literature Laboratory |date=24 March 2018 |access-date=26 February 2021}}

In 2006, Speed created Skirl Records, a label dedicated to Brooklyn-based creative music.{{cite web |last1=Collins |first1=Troy |title=New Exit From Brooklyn: Chris Speed's Skirl Records |url=https://www.allaboutjazz.com/new-exit-from-brooklyn-chris-speeds-skirl-records-by-troy-collins.php |website=All About Jazz |accessdate=1 September 2018 |date=27 October 2006}}

In August 2021, Speed joined The Bad Plus.{{Cite web|url=https://www.wbgo.org/music/2021-08-17/the-bad-plus-reformulates-again-now-as-a-quartet-with-ben-monder-and-chris-speed|title = The Bad Plus Reformulates Again, Now as a Quartet with Ben Monder and Chris Speed|website=Wbgo.org|date = 17 August 2021}} They released an album, entitled simply The Bad Plus, on September 30, 2022.{{Cite web|url=https://www.thebadplus.com/home|title = The Bad Plus|website=Thebadplus.com |date = 11 October 2022}}