Chris Cheek

In continuing to talk about some underrated artists, I couldn't pass up Chris Cheek. Probably my favorite jazz player on the scene right now, I'm constantly amazed at how few people have heard him or even heard of him. Cheek has managed to keep pretty good company over the last 15 years while he's been on the scene, and recently he's been noticed by even bigger artists. The first time I heard Cheek was as a sideman in Paul Motian's Electric Bebop Band. On the album "Reincarnation of a Lovebird", Cheek plays alongside Chris Potter, Kurt Rosenwinkel, Wolfgang Muthspiel, Steve Swallow and the veteran drummer. Of the young members of the band, Rosenwinkel and especially Potter went on to build up their repuations to become two of the most in demand and highly regarded players on the scene, while Cheek remained a relatively obscure player. But that is changing. In the last 5 years Cheek has been extremely busy. While recording as a leader, he has remained in Paul Motians band (ironically the only member to still be in it from the previously mentioned album) and also played as a sideman with Charlie Haden, Ethan Iverson, Ben Street, Guillermo Klein, David Berkman, Joshua Redman, Matt Penman and most recently Bill Frisell. Cheek sports one of the most individual sounds I've heard in a long time, and his melodic playing seems to come more from his own sense of originality then any school of playing. Able to play in the tradition as well as anyone else (exemplified in his early playing in the Electric Bebop Band), Cheek usually flaunts his own contemporary style. His compositional skills almost overshadow his playing. His album "Vine" from 2000 is made completely up of his own compositions, and they show that Cheek is one of the most original writers around. Not that it hurt to have a backing band of Brad Mehldau (on rhodes and piano), Kurt Rosenwinkel, Matt Penman, and Jorge Rossy on the record, but it is clear that the band was incredibly inspired by Cheek's writing, as it is some of the best playing by all of them on record. One song, "Granada" was later played by the Brad Mehldau Trio on their album "Day Is Done", which is quite a humbling gesture to Cheek. His most recent album "Blues Cruise" is made up of half his own compositions and half obscure standards. His selection of covers shows his well-roundedness as a listener, choosing two very obscure songs by Duke Ellington and Henry Mancini, as well as the old rhythm and blues classic "Flamingo", originally made famous by Earl Bostic. One unique aspect of Cheek is his tendency to utilize all four major voices of saxophones on his albums. I recently saw him live with Guillermo Klein's Los Guachos, where he was playing baritone, tenor and soprano saxes. And on "Blues Cruise" he utilizes Alto, Tenor and Soprano. His tone on each is impeccable. Most recently he has been playing and recording with the experimental group "Rudder", a sort of pop-rock-fusion-funk collective comprised of some of the best young studio, pop, electric and jazz musicians around. In this group he makes use of a large group of effects to make his horn sound like just another keyboard, guitar or synthesizer. I encourage those of you who haven't heard Cheek to seriously check out his playing. In the meantime enjoy these selections:

The Ice Fall - From "Vine" (2000), with Brad Mehldau, rhodes; Kurt Rosenwinkel, guitar; Matt Penman, bass; Jorge Rossy, drums

Lazy Afternoon (live) - From "Lazy Afternoon" (2002), with Ethan Iverson, piano; Ben Street, bass; Jorge Rossy, drums

Lopez - From "Rudder" (2007), with Tim Lefebvre, bass; Henry Hey, keyboards; Keith Carlock, drums

And this video of Cheek playing with Jakob Bro (now also in Paul Motian's band) and Rune Borup, "Chinatown"