Chunka Amarè Khan is a young artist from Buffalo, NY. His influences include Louis Armstrong, Miles Davis, Clifford Brown, Clark Terry, Lee Morgan, Freddie Hubbard, John Coltrane, Joe Henderson, Thelonious Monk, McCoy Tyner, Duke Ellington, Count Basie, Thad Jones, Wynton Marsalis, Jason Plamer, Sean Jones, Darren Barrett, Marquis Hill, Roy Hargrove, Ornette Coleman, Elvin Jones, Tony Williams, Wayne Shorter, Ron Carter, Herbie Hancock, A Tribe Called Quest, Kendrick Lamar, J. Cole, Anderson .Paak, Marvin Gaye, Willie Hutch, Curtis Mayfield, Kanye West, Timbaland, J Dilla, Slick Rick, Aretha Franklin, Erykah Badu, Ella Fitzgerald, Sarah Vaughan, Billie Holiday. Chunka started playing trumpet when he was 11 years old and started venturing off into Jazz music when he was 14 years old after his jr. high school teacher, Dave DeWitt, gave him a couple of Jazz records. It wasn't too long afterwards that Chunka began to sit in on jam sessions at the Historical Colored Musicians' Club with many talented local musicians. Chunka Amarè met and began studying with Jazz instructor and historian Clarence Lott at 15 years and developed a great appreciation for his abundance of knowledge and extensive music catalog. In high school he participated in ECMEA All-County, NYSSMA All-State, and NAfME All-National Jazz ensembles. He has played in various venues in Buffalo & Rochester, NY and Boston, MA including the Historic Colored Musicians Club, The Tralf Music Hall, Shea's Performing Arts Center, Buffalo Canalside, Pine Grill Jazz Festival, Queen City Jazz Festival, Xerox Rochester International Jazz Festival, Kodak Hall, Harvard University, Darryl's Bar, and Wally's Cafe. Upon graduation from high school, Chunka Amarè Khan attended Eastman School of Music and studied with Clay Jenkins, Doug Prosser, and James Thompson. After his freshman year Chunka transferred to Berklee College of Music where he's currently double majoring in Contemporary Writing & Production and Music Business Management. At Berklee he has studied with Charlie Lewis, Darren Barrett, Jeff Stout, Sean Jones, currently studying with Jason Palmer. Chunka's areas of specialty are in improvisation, composition, arranging, and music production. Throughout Chunka's professional career he has had the opportunity to play with and for Najee, George Caldwell, Corey Wilkes, Ambrose Akinmusire, Brian Blade, Danilo Perez, John Patitucci, Bruce Harris, Jon Faddis, Rodney Whittaker, Wynton Marsalis, Wayne Shorter, and Herbie Hancock. He has also had the opportunity to meet Bobby Watson, Kenny Garrett and Ron Carter. Chunka Amarè Khan is a descendant of Rock N' Roll pioneer Clifford Burks who played tenor saxophone in Little Richard's Band, The Upsetters.