Chris Byars Quartet August 17, 2011

Saxophonist/arranger/composer Chris Byars has pursued a career in jazz since his teenage years. Winner of the Tanne Foundation Award and three Chamber Music America grants for education and composition, he combines a study of past jazz greats such as Lucky Thompson and Gigi Gryce with a deliberate thrust toward creation of new sounds in jazz. Since 2007, Chris has been a musical ambassador with the U.S. Department of State, touring in over forty countries conducting cultural exchange programs in the Middle East, Central Asia and the Balkans.