Chris Byars

Christopher Byars
Background information
Born	(1970-11-02) November 2, 1970 (age 54) New York City
Genres	Jazz
Occupation	Musician
Instrument	Saxophone
Labels	SteepleChase
Website	chrisbyars.net

Christopher Byars (born November 2, 1970) is an American jazz saxophonist. Formerly a child opera singer, Byars has toured for the U.S. State Department as a jazz ambassador with frequent collaborator Ari Roland.

Byars was born in New York City on November 2, 1970, to oboist James Byars and clarinetist Janita Byars.^[1] At six, he debuted as an opera performer joining the New York City Opera and Metropolitan Opera children's choirs, the New York City Ballet, and attending the School of American Ballet from ages 8 to 11 years old.^[2][3] He performed hundreds of shows as a child,^[2] including the title role in a made-for-TV adaptation of The Spellbound Child with George Balanchine.^[4] Puberty deepened his voice, and his singing career came to an end when his voice croaked during a performance of Tosca.^[5]

When Byars returned from his final tour as a singer in 1983, he was given a saxophone by his father and began focusing exclusively on jazz.^[5][4] As a teenager, he studied the music of Charlie Parker after his father gave him the albums Bird and Diz and Charlie Parker with Strings.^[2][1] Byars was influenced as a teenager by bassist Aaron Bell, pianist Barry Harris, who mentored him, and author Frank McCourt, his creative writing teacher at Stuyvesant High School.^[2][6] He earned his bachelor's and master's degrees in music from the Manhattan School of Music in 1990 and 1992 respectively.^[4]

Byars first set as a leader was a 1989 quartet date at the Angry Squire.^[7] In 1990, Byars co-founded Across 7 Street with Ari Roland as a tribute band to the erstwhile saxophonist Clarence Sharpe.^[8][6] The band performed Sunday nights at Smalls Jazz Club, playing original compositions inspired by the bebop era.^[1] In 1998, Byars joined the Frank Hewitt quintet, which featured former Across 7 Street members Roland and Jimmy Lovelace, performing Saturday nights with him for four years.^[2]

Byars has visited more than 50 countries as a jazz ambassador.^[9] He began touring as part of the Ari Roland quartet with the State Department in December 2006 after making it to the finals of a competition held at Jazz at Lincoln Center.^[10] The tours are intended to improve America's image abroad, and feature Byars collaborating with local musicians and incorporating elements of their native traditions into jazz.^[11]

Inspired by his 2007 tour of Central Asia, Byars wrote the suite Jazz Pictures at an Exhibition of Himalayan Art, based on the Modest Mussorgsky piece Pictures at an Exhibition.^[11] The work has some foreign influences but is primarily based in the language of American jazz. It debuted at an October 2007 show at the Rubin Museum of Art,^[12] and was again played at the Museum in April 2008. The live performances featured Byars playing in front of a slideshow.^[13] An album of the same name was later released, with each composition corresponding to a painting on display at the Museum.^[14]

In 2008, Byars' quartet toured as part of The Rhythm Road: American Music Abroad, playing in Slovakia, Saudi Arabia, Cyprus, Montenegro, and Slovenia.^[3] In Muslim-majority areas, Byars won audiences over by telling them the story of Muslim American musician Basheer Qusim, a.k.a. Gigi Gryce.^[15]

After performing in a commemoration of the reopening of Ledra Street crossing, Byars co-directed the "Jazz Futures" program organized by the American embassy in Cyprus with Roland from 2008 to 2013.^[16] The series brought together Byars' groups and Turkish and Greek Cypriot musicians and audiences.^[17][18]

Byars has recorded a number of tribute albums and live sets, playing the compositions of lesser known post-bop musicians.^[3] As part of the programs, Byars infuses his own musical identity with those of his predecessors.^[19]

From March 22 to 25, 2006, Byars led a four-night set at Smalls playing the compositions of Lucky Thompson, performing, at various points, with former Thompson sidemen John Hicks and Jerry Dodgion.^[2] During the preparation for the set, Byars and historian Noal Cohen discovered a private recording of an August 28, 1961, radio broadcast of Thompson's octet. Byars transcribed every arrangement on the recording and taught them to the members of his own octet.^[20] These compositions, as well as re-arrangements from Thompson's quartet records, were later played on the album Lucky Strikes Again.^[21]

In 2007, Byars' quartet played at Teddy Charles' house, at the behest of Cohen, helping to coax the vibraphonist-turned-captain back into playing music. In June of the next year, Byars premiered the composition Bop-ography, inspired by Charles' life, in Greenwich Village.^[22] He also played with the Teddy Charles Tentet in its first appearance since Charles' retirement.^[23] Byars would later record with Charles on Dances with Bulls, Charles' first studio recording in forty years, and his own album Bop-ography.^[24][25]

Byars has also worked on projects commemorating Freddie Redd, Gigi Gryce, Duke Jordan, Frank Strozier, and Jimmy Cleveland.^[4]

Byars' music is based in 1950s bebop, though with additional contemporary stylings.^[5] He developed as one of many younger players at Smalls Jazz Club during the 1990s, working with veteran players like Jimmy Lovelace and Frank Hewitt.^[26][2] Byars has used the octet format in his band to exploit the texture gains from a big band while retaining the fluidity of a small group.^[27][21]

Byars is a member of American Federation of Musicians Local 802.^[11] He lives with his second wife, Ayna, and has two children from a previous marriage.^[28] During the COVID-19 pandemic, he took up various government jobs for financial reasons.^[4] He has one brother, Michael Byars.^[29]

Source^[30]

• Official website
• Chris Byars at AllMusic
• Chris Byars discography at Discogs
• Discography from Noal Cohen