Music
Press
“Chris Weller is a fantastic musician! He not only plays music with great ability and care, he cherishes the history and strives to build on it as well. Chris’s respect for the masters is evident in his big, broad tenor sound and his creative, melodic improvisations. Listening to Chris is a lesson in Jazz history and a look into the future.” - Ted Hogarth, Musician and Educator
“Chris Weller has a great musical future ahead of him. It's not only rare that someone his age has great command over the saxophone, but he also has the musicality and soul behind it.” - Russ Nolan
“Jazz music has got to have that thing. You have to be born with it. You can’t even buy it. If you could buy it, they’d have it at the next Newport festival.” (Miles Davis)
“From the very first moment I heard Chris Weller play, I knew this was a person who was born with it! It is truly wonderful to have an opportunity to hear a remarkable musician perform at such a young age. You can’t help but to sit and wonder, “My goodness, this kid is only 18 years old, what will his music sound like by the time he is 21?” Be sure to check him out now while you can. I predict one day, in the not-too-distant future, we will all be standing in line trying to get tickets to one of his performances.”
- Camille Wilson White, Executive Director, Oak Park Area Arts Council
“Chris is easily one of the most promising young horn players in town: his record is a sure sign of great things to come.” - Jason Patera, co-founder of Caltera School; Music Department Head, The Chicago Academy for the Arts
Discography
Still working on that hot first release.
Photos
Bio
Influences (include, but certainly not limited too): John Coltrane, Charlie Parker, Miles Davis, Dexter Gordon, Sonny Rollins, Duke Ellington, Johnny Hodges, Joe Henderson, Scott Hesse, Greg Ward, Devin Drobka, Aaron Darrell, Jerry Bergonzi, Louis Armstrong, Wayne Shorter, Thelonious Monk, Bob Moses, familly, friends, life.
Groups:
Performs with the likes of Aaron Darrel, Devin Drobka, Ryan Dragon, Jeremy Cunningham, Katie Ernst, Marquis Hill, Greg Ward, Scott Hesse, Dave Fink, Cole Degenova, and Dave Miller among others..
Some Previous Performances:
28th Annual Chicago Jazz Festival, Velvet Lounge, Chicago Cultural Center, Hot House, Jazz Showcase, Morseland, Townhouse Restaurant, Chicago Fire House Restaurant, MidTown Restaurant, Abbey, Fitzgerald's, People Lounge, Heartland Cafe, Baked Tomato, Jerry's Restaurant, Jazz It Cafe, Irish Times Bar & Restaurant, Dragonfly Restaurant, Ebony Lounge, Beehive, Lilly Pad, Berklee Performance Center, InterContinental Hotel, Hilton Hotel, Hyatt Regency Hotel, Cafe Luna, as well as numerous weddings and other private functions in the Chicago/Milwaukee area and Boston area.
Chris has shared the stage with the likes of Grammy-winner Kurt Elling, Grammy-nominee Patricia Barber, Ramsey Lewis, Phil Grenadier, Dave Santoro, Geraldine Bergonzi, Jim Odgren, Ken Cervenka, Jim Snidero, Ken Chaney, Jeremy Khan, Scott Hesse, Ted Hogarth's Mulligan Mosaics, and Greg Ward.
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