Chris Potter © Andrea Canter

Born in Chicago and raised in Columbia, South Carolina, Chris Potter was introduced to music early, first studying piano and then switching to the saxophone after hearing Paul Desmond’s “Take Five.” He studied jazz and played in the University of South Carolina band as a middle school and high school student. Named by Down Beat Magazine as the top high school jazz instrumentalist at 18, he then moved to New York, first studying with Kenny Werner at the New School for Social Research and later enrolling at the Manhattan School of Music. In 1991 he was a finalist in the Thelonious Monk Tenor Sax competition, along with Eric Alexander and winner Joshua Redman. Over the next few years Potter recorded his first sessions as a leader, with Criss Cross and particularly with Concord; he was in high demand as a sideman and would appear on as many as 20 recordings a year, including a live date at Maybeck with mentor Kenny Werner. Throughout the late 1980s and 1990s, he toured and recorded with Jim Hall, Ray Brown, James Moody, Steve Swallow, Larry Carlton, Paul Motian and Steely Dan, among many others.

Potter’s career as been equally meteoric in the past seven years, highlighted by a 1999 Grammy nomination for his tenor solo “In Vogue” (on Joanne Brackeen’s Pink Elephant Magic), winning Denmark’s 2000 Jazzpar prize as its youngest-ever recipient, and now as winner of the Downbeat Critic’s 2006 poll as Rising Star/Tenor Sax. Today Potter is probably best known for his outstanding collaborations with Dave Holland and Dave Douglas, but his own work with this quartet and other projects speaks volumes about his virtuosity on a variety of reeds and his individuality as a composer. His style is his own, with some echoes of Sonny Rollins and self-identified influences of Coltrane, Parker, Shorter, and Ornette Coleman.

Craig Taborn © Andera Canter

Potter’s acclaimed 2004 release, Lift—Live at the Village Vanguard (Sunnyside), featured then-working quartet of Kevin Hays (keyboards), Scott Colley (bass), and Bill Stewart (drums). His current band, however, usually eschews the bass for a pairing of guitarist Adam Rogers and Fender Rhodes ace Craig Taborn, along with Davel Holland’s drummer, Nate Smith. Potter’s notes that his goal for the “Underground” band was to draw upon “funk rhythmic language” while keeping the music “as free as the freest jazz conception…a big inspiration for this has been Wayne Shorter’s quartet [featuring Danilo Perez, John Patitucci, and Brian Blade], where you have themes that [delineate] a particular tune but basically it’s spontaneous group composition.” For the most part the band functions without a bass (although Tim Lefebvre’s electric bass sometimes replaces the guitar (and will do so in Toronto). Potter, who often plays as much soprano as tenor, sticks with the tenor in this ensemble. Recently, Nate Chinen (Jazz Times) described Underground as “an aggressive but consonant progressivism, often but not always rock-infused.”

Adam Rogers © Andrea Canter

Nate Smith © Andrea Canter

Nate Smith’s profile took a major leap two years ago when he replaced Billy Kilson as the drummer for the Dave Holland Quintet and Big Band. A graduate of Betty Carter’s Jazz Ahead, he met Holland while studying jazz at Virginia Commonwealth University. A composer and songwriter as well as performer, Smith has also ventured into R &B and smooth jazz.

Take Lift, throw in some Junk Magic, and go Underground to mix a multi-layered funky soup. Then, pour it all onto the bandstand at the Village Vanguard, February 13-18!

Show times and reservations at www.villagevanguard.com. More information and full itinerary can be found at www.chrispottermusic.com. See also the February 2006 issue of Jazz Times for a feature article on Chris Potter by David Adler.