Curating the life you want with Chris Pattishall

Published: April 15, 2017, 12:01 a.m.

Grammy-nominated pianist Chris Pattishall is a master curator of life and music. He and I discuss the challenges young musicians face in today's super competitive musical landscape. We also dive deep into his "old school" musical education and the community that supported his growth. We also listen to his transformative creations and discussed what it means to defy labels.

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http://www.chrispattishall.com

Biography


Recently named by Wynton Marsalis as one of the top five jazz musicians under 30 to watch, Grammy-nominated pianist and composer Chris Pattishall is steadily generating a noted presence in the jazz world. Combining an impressive technique and deep jazz feeling, Pattishall embodies a music that is at once intelligent, soulful and joyous. He has appeared with Wynton Marsalis, Jon Hendricks, Jimmy Heath, Donald Byrd, George Coleman, Billy Hart, Jamey Aebersold, Wycliffe Gordon, Fred Wesley, Steve Wilson, Steve Nelson, Billy Kilson, Bucky Pizzarelli, Russell Malone, Mark Whitfield Sr. and Rafiq Bhatia. Pattishall can be heard on Jamison, the Grammy-nominated debut of vocalist and drummer Jamison Ross.


Pattishall has toured internationally as a leader and sideman, presenting original music as well as inventive readings of a broad range of jazz repertoire. In August 2016 he premiered Fictions, a chamber music suite based on the short stories of Jorge Luis Borges. In December 2015 Pattishall was the Music Director for “Divas of the Silver Screen,” a tribute to Ethel Waters, Lena Horne and Rosemary Clooney as part of the 2015-16 Jazz at Lincoln Center season. Recent programs have presented distinctive interpretations of the music of Nat “King” Cole, Fletcher Henderson, and Mary Lou Williams, as well as pairing works by Igor Stravinsky and Maurice Ravel with those of Duke Ellington and George Gerswhin.


Active as both a pianist and composer, Chris holds an ASCAP Young Jazz Composer’s Award, and participated in the Kennedy Center's Betty Carter Jazz Ahead Program and the Ravinia Festival Stean’s Young Artist Program.


Pattishall is an engaged music educator, teaching privately and at William Paterson University. Chris also conducts masterclasses with high school jazz ensembles throughout the United States, and he regularly presents masterclasses on jazz and its socio-historical context in the New York City public school system.


Pattishall currently resides in New York City, where he performs at many of the city's renowned jazz clubs including Dizzy's Club Coca-Cola, Small's, Iridium, Smoke, the Kitano and The Blue Note. He holds a B.A. in Jazz Studies (Magna Cum Laude) from Florida State University and a M.M. in Jazz Performance from William Paterson University and has studied with Harold Mabern, Mulgrew Miller, Marcus Roberts and Gary Kirkpatrick.