Since childhood, saxophonist Chris Potter抯 ability to take on numerous styles and influences has turned the heads of fans and fellow musicians. He hit the New York scene in 1989, and quickly established himself as a saxophone innovator steeped in tradition. Born on January 1, 1971 in Chicago, Illinois, Joseph Christopher Potter moved to Columbia, South Carolina, as an infant. While neither of his parents are musicians, they had an eclectic record collection in which Potter took a strong interest. He cites his earliest musical influences as Bach, Stravinsky, Joni Mitchell, the Beatles, Miles Davis, Dave Brubeck, Paul Desmond, and various types of folkloric music from around the world. As a young boy, Potter tried to learn the piano by ear, and hoped to learn to play the guitar like Buddy Guy. At around age ten, inspired by recordings of Charlie Parker and Paul Desmond, Potter set his sights on the saxophone. He has said that he annoyed his parents daily, until they finally gave in to his wish. Potter抯 parents bought him a saxophone, on the condition that he take regular private lessons. He became so comfortable with the instrument that by age twelve, he shared a stage at the National Association of Jazz Educators convention with Paquito D扲ivera and Phil Woods. By age thirteen, he began performing professionally, with a regular gig two nights a week. In high school, his ability was enough to impress trumpeter Red Rodney, who heard him play at a local jazz festival, and pianist Marian McPartland. After graduating from high school, Potter moved to New York in 1989, where he attended the New School for Social Research for one year, and then Manhattan School of Music for two years. Almost immediately upon arriving in the city, Rodney invited him to join his group, and he also performed with the Mingus Big Band, Ray Brown, Jim Hall, James Moody, Mike Manieri, and Dave Douglas. In this period, he also recorded with Paul Motian, Marian McPartland, and Kenny Werner. Potter抯 early experiences as a sideman allowed him to become firmly rooted in the jazz tradition by performing music from all across the various subgenres of jazz. Alongside Rodney, Potter cut his teeth as a bebop musician alongside one of the genre抯 creators, who had played with Charlie Parker from 1949 to 1951. Potter抯 versatility and proficiency in many styles put him in high demand. He played often with the jazz-tinged pop group Steely Dan, and later joined the band of Paul Motian, whose approach to composition and improvisation was less rooted in traditional forms and harmonies, and often made use of collective free improvisation. In 1991, Potter competed as a finalist in the Thelonious Monk Competition, coming in third behind two equally outstanding saxophonists, Joshua Redman and Eric Alexander. In 1992, Potter made his first recording as a leader on the Dutch label Criss Cross. In 1993, he recorded on Marian McPartland抯 album for Concord Records, In My Life. At her recommendation, Concord signed the young artist. He recorded five albums for the label, which he viewed as a way to document the development of his composition as well as his playing. In the mid 1990s, Potter worked in two innovative groups, led by trumpeter Dave Douglas and bassist Dave Holland. Douglas抯 compositions allowed to improvise in more of a free manner: the music from this period is based on gestures and mood as much as on chord changes. Dave Holland抯 music, on the other hand, is generally groove-oriented, and is often composed of unusual forms and odd or mixed meters. As Potter began to lead his own touring groups and record as a front man, he drew heavily from these compositional approaches. The high point of Potter抯 work as a sideman was perhaps the period from 1999 to 2000. He was nominated for a Grammy for best instrumental solo on Joanne Brackeen抯 1999 record Pink Elephant Magic. A year later, Steely Dan抯 Two Against Nature, which featured several Potter solos, won four Grammys. That same year, 2000, Potter became the youngest recipient of the Danish Jazzpar Prize. The downside to this period in Potter抯 life was that he was diagnosed with Meniere抯 disease, an inner ear disorder that has left him virtually deaf in his left ear. Potter signed with Verve Records, and released his debut for the label, entitled Gratitude, in 2001. Since Verve had the money and the resources to send him on tour, he began to think about going on the road with his own music. Gratitude was a pivotal album in Potter抯 career, for it marked the start of a tremendously productive period as a bandleader, and also cast him in a new light as an innovator steeped in the jazz tradition. Each track on the album gives a contemporary approach to the style of a different jazz saxophone master, ranging from Coleman Hawkins to Michael Brecker. Since Gratitude, Potter has released one more album for Verve, and four on the Sunnyside label. With each one, his approach evolves. His range of influences stands out in his body of solo work. As Gratitude demonstrates, past jazz masters have influenced him heavily. What distinguishes Potter as an innovator is his ability to incorporate influences not commonly heard in jazz. Potter is an autodidact in classical music, but this background informs his approaches to improvisation and composition. He cites Stravinsky and Bartok as influences, in terms of extended rhythmic and harmonic ideas. Polytonality and polyrhythms are techniques that have been explored in classical music in the past century, but their compositional use in jazz has been recent. Potter抯 classical approach to composition is very much apparent his 2007 recording of?Song For Anyone,?in which he composed for a chamber ensemble consisting of violin, viola, cello, nylon string guitar, flute, clarinet, and bassoon, tenor saxophone, drums, and bass. On his recent recordings, Potter抯 improvised solos often incorporate motives that don抰 belong to any specific key, and acknowledge his interest in the 20th-century classical veins of atonality, serialism, and twelve-tone music. Always one for surprises, in 2006 Potter released Underground. This funk and rock-tinged album also includes mixed-meter compositions and rhythmic cycles reminiscent of his time in Dave Holland抯 quintet, yet also hints at Stravinsky抯 ballets and Indian classical music. review The supremely gifted saxophonist Chris Potter is probably best known for his work with bassist Dave Holland and trumpeter Dave Douglas among others. Gratitude (which doesn't feature anyone called Dave) is a summation of his influences, with each track dedicated to a saxophone master. Perhaps the fact that this is his debut for Verve (a classic jazz imprint if ever there was) has something to do with this acknowledgement to jazz tradition, but Potter is undoubtedly sincere in his intentions and has the talent to pull it off. Though each track has some trace of its dedicatee, Potter hasn't gone for slavish imitation ('tonight Matthew, I'm going to be Lester Young'). Opening with a sweet bluesy blast for John Coltrane, he goes on to adapt a Joe Henderson tune for "Shadow", a lazily funky outing redolent of the tenor player's classic Milestone albums; Kevin Hays' expansive Fender Rhodes is a particularly effective springboard for the leader's tenor explorations. Potter's most discernible influence is Sonny Rollins; he shares Rollins' rhythmic precision and urgency and consequently his tribute to the great man (a particularly tricky exercise in 15/8) brings out some of his most buoyant, joyful playing. Likewise "High Noon" (for Eddie Harris") is a lovely slice of langorous, slightly sweaty funk, with drummer Brian Blade (recently heard performing miracles with Wayne Shorter) on top form, chopping bar lengths with surgical precision without sacrificing the groove. A couple of standards appear too; Potter wisely opts for bass clarinet on "Body and Soul", played as a duet with bassist Scott Colley (dedicated to Coleman Hawkins) and in the process comes up with an original take on ye olde tenor warhorse which doesn't sound like Eric Dolphy - no mean feat. He switches to alto on "Star Eyes" (unsurprisingly dedicated to Charlie Parker), shoehorns it into 7/4; and it works too, with some desperately exciting seat of the pants interplay between alto and drums. Not quite a standard is "The Visitor", where Potter takes a trademark Lester Young phrase and bases a composition around it; the results are more Dave Holland than Prez, though there's a tinge of the Porkpie Hat in Potter's generous, sparkling solo. "Vox Humana" is an impressionistic tone poem for Ornette Coleman, featuring Chinese wood flute and soprano; inspired by Ornette's comment on the saxophone's similarity to the human voice, Potter's playing again evokes Coleman's spirit in some way without sounding much like him. While Chris Potterisn't out to change the course of jazz history, he doesn't suffer from a Marsalis-like tendency to preserve it in aspic either. This album is more evidence (if it was needed) of a major talent. Inspired, beautifully played mainstream jazz, and thoroughly recommended.