Chris Potter
Saxophonist Chris Potter made his ECM debut as a leader with The Sirens, an album of mood and melody inspired by Homer’s The Odyssey – both its Dave Holland, as well as collaborated with Paul Motian and Jason Moran on Lost in a Dream – composed a cycle of songs without words for The Sirens. These pieces are conveyed by a strikingly textured band: with Potter on tenor/soprano saxophones and bass clarinet, plus Craig Taborn (piano), David Virelles (prepared piano, celeste, harmonium), Larry Grenadier (double-bass) and Eric Harland (drums).
Imaginary Cities introduced Potter’s Underground Orchestra – an expanded ensemble around the core of his electric quartet Underground, featuring keyboardist Taborn, guitarist Adam Rogers and drummer Nate Smith. The Underground Orchestra also includes both electric and acoustic basses (played by Fima Ephron and Scott Colley, respectively), a string quartet and vibraphonist/marimba ace Steve Nelson, the saxophonist’s old comrade from his days in the [...]
Saxophonist Chris Potter made his ECM debut as a leader with The Sirens, an album of mood and melody inspired by Homer’s The Odyssey – both its Dave Holland, as well as collaborated with Paul Motian and Jason Moran on Lost in a Dream – composed a cycle of songs without words for The Sirens. These pieces are conveyed by a strikingly textured band: with Potter on tenor/soprano saxophones and bass clarinet, plus Craig Taborn (piano), David Virelles (prepared piano, celeste, harmonium), Larry Grenadier (double-bass) and Eric Harland (drums).
Imaginary Cities introduced Potter’s Underground Orchestra – an expanded ensemble around the core of his electric quartet Underground, featuring keyboardist Taborn, guitarist Adam Rogers and drummer Nate Smith. The Underground Orchestra also includes both electric and acoustic basses (played by Fima Ephron and Scott Colley, respectively), a string quartet and vibraphonist/marimba ace Steve Nelson, the saxophonist’s old comrade from his days in the Dave Holland Quintet. The album’s title composition is a suite, panoramic in its reach. All About Jazz praised Imaginary Cities for the “harmonious integration of instruments and the fluid dynamics of Potter's imaginative arrangements. The finely layered strands and subtleties of the music reveal themselves more and more upon repeated listening, like sunrise gradually illuminating the details of an unforgettable landscape.”
Potter burst onto the New York scene in 1989 as an 18-year-old prodigy with bebop icon Red Rodney; the Chicago-born saxophonist then became the youngest musician ever to win Denmark's Jazzpar Prize. His discography now includes 16 albums as a leader and sideman appearances on over 100 more. He has also performed or recorded with such leading jazz figures as Herbie Hancock, Pat Metheny, Jim Hall, Paul Motian, Ray Brown, John Scofield and Dave Douglas, as well as with the Mingus Big Band. Potter made his ECM debut on Holland’s 2000 album Prime Directive, adding to his label experience by playing on Steve Swallow’s Always Pack Your Uniform on Top and Damaged in Transit.
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