Chris Anderson is a highly influential pianist, having worked with luminaries such as Sonny Rollins, Charlie Parker and Dinah Washington among others. He is credited with teaching Herbie Hancock, who to this day remains his biggest fan.
Chris Anderson is a highly influential pianist, having worked with luminaries such as Sonny Rollins, Charlie Parker and Dinah Washington among others. He is credited with teaching Herbie Hancock, who to this day remains his biggest fan.
Chris was born in Chicago, in 1926. His enduring fascination with harmony, which was sparked by film soundtracks, began well before the age of ten. He had already started to teach himself to play on the family piano, so well in fact that he never took lessons. This is a clue to the amazing originality and sheer talent of his harmonic ideas.
Chris Anderson passed away in 2008 in New York where he had lived for the last 47 years of his life. He lived the greater half of his life almost completely blind and unfortunately, a rare brittle bone disability hindered Anderson's ability to promote his skills through extensive live performance and hence he became more of a marvel with his musical peers than potential audiences. All who were lucky enough to stumble upon his distinctive and romantic style of playing in an NY club fell in love with his music instantly.
Chris Anderson remains legendary among musicians to this day yet remarkably unknown to the jazz record buying public. Naim is exceptionally lucky to have captured Chris Anderson on tape and we will, as always, endeavour to make sure this luminary lives on.