Chris Speed

Chris Speed (b. Seattle, Washington, 1967) is an American saxophonist, clarinetist, and composer. He studied classical piano from the age of five, and began clarinet at eleven. In high school he took up the tenor saxophone and began studying jazz. He later attended the New England Conservatory of Music in Boston. Speed has lived in New York City since 1992. He leads or co-leads the groups Pachora (with Jim Black, Skúli Sverrisson, and Brad Shepi... more

Chris Speed (b. Seattle, Washington, 1967) is an American saxophonist, clarinetist, and composer. He studied classical piano from the age of five, and began clarinet at eleven. In high school he took up the tenor saxophone and began studying jazz. He later attended the New England Conservatory of Music in Boston. Speed has lived in New York City since 1992. He leads or co-leads the groups Pachora (with Jim Black, Skúli Sverrisson, and Brad Shepik); Human Feel (with Andrew D'Angelo, Black, and Kurt Rosenwinkel); yeah NO (with Black, Sverrisson, and Cuong Vu); and Trio Iffy (with Ben Perowsky and Jamie Saft). The latter two groups predominantly feature Speed's compositions. Well-known avant-jazz groups Speed has performed with are Tim Berne's Bloodcount (with Berne, Jim Black, Michael Formanek, and sometimes Marc Ducret); John Hollenbeck's The Claudia Quintet (with Hollenbeck, Matt Moran, Ted Reichman and Drew Gress); Jim Black's Alasnoaxis (with Black, Sverrisson, and Hilmar Jensson);... less