Profile: Chris Hunter

It was 1983  when an invitation from the late great Gil Evans uprooted Chris from his native London, England, to join the now legendary Monday Night Orchestra.  He had rapidly established himself in London as the preeminent saxophonist, progressing from a three year stint in the National Youth Jazz Orchestra to a steady gig with renowned jazz composer, Mike Westbrook and his All Star Brass Band and Cabaret.  This lead to an acclaimed debut recording, Early Days, see Guardian piece, which introduced him to the London recording scene.  He was soon soloing on projects for artists as diverse as:  Incognito, Paul Weller and the Style Council, ABC, Buggles, Sheena Easton, Kajagoogoo and the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, as well as enjoying a steady stream of work from composers Richard Niles and John Altman.  He also toured and performed with his own band throughout the UK and co-founded the fusion band, Hubbard’s Cubbard.  If all this seems too much to have left behind, says Chris, “I think working in London with all the diversity and those great people always felt like I was living a captive life, as if all I was ever going to see of the world was London and the home counties.”  The invitation from Gil was all it took to make the life changing move.  see Fresh Hunting Grounds, Telegraph. “The hardest thing of all,” says Chris, “was giving up the certainty of London for the daunting prospect of New York.”

Since then Chris has become one of the world’s leading journeyman sax players, participating as featured player in a vast spectrum of music with artists such as Michel Camilo, Michael Franks, Robben Ford, Hiram Bullock, Jonathan Butler, the Manhattan Transfer, Flora Purim-Airto Moreira, Sting, Tania Maria, the Illinois Philharmonic

He has  played Lead Alto and been featured soloist in many of the world’s major jazz orchestras including The Manhattan Jazz Orchestra, the George Gruntz Concert Jazz Band, the Gil Evans Orchestra, the Michel Camilo NY Big Band, the Mike Gibbs Orchestra, the WDR Big Band(Cologne, Germany).  He has also been chosen soloist on themes for some of TV’s most prestigious shows including:  Oprah, Regis & Kelly, the Koppel Report, The Today Show, Spin City,  and the New York Yankees as well as countless TV ads.

This Website hopes for the first time to give a glimpse into his rich history of solo projects and bring wider accessibility to some of those recordings.