Chris Byars

Chris Byars (born November 2, 1970 in New York City ) is an American jazz musician ( tenor - alto , soprano saxophone , flute , clarinet , arrangement ) and composer .

Chris Byars comes from a family of musicians and artists; as a child he sang in the Metropolitan Opera and the New York City Opera . He took classes at George Balanchine's School of American Ballet, danced with the New York City Ballet and took part in the Balanchine production of Maurice Ravel's L'enfant et les sortilèges for National Public Television . After attending Stuyvesant High School, he studied at the Manhattan School of Music . Through Ari Roland and Sacha Perry he found his way to the New York jazz scene and played in the following years a. a. with Clarence "C" Sharpe , Frank Hewitt , Dave Glasser , Junior Cook , Bill Hardman , Leo Mitchell , John Marshall, and Charles Davis ; he also had private lessons with Barry Harris . After the death of C Sharpe in 1990, Byars and Roland formed the tribute band Across 7 Street , in which u. a. John Mosca , Joe Magnarelli , Sacha Perry and Jimmy Lovelace played. Byars also leads an octet and composes for chamber ensemble and symphony orchestra. In the field of jazz he was involved in 34 recording sessions between 1989 and 2012, including a. also with Mark Elf and Neal Miner .

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