Bio
A native of Detroit, MI, Kris’s education began with Damien Crutcher’s
music program at Southfield-Lathrup High School (2001), Harold
McKinney’s jazz workshop, and the Detroit Symphony Orchestra’s Civic
Jazz Orchestra under the direction of Marcus Belgrave. The trumpeter,
composer, arranger, and educator has a diverse musical background, and
holds a Master’s (2007) and Bachelor’s (2005) degree in Jazz Studies
from Michigan State University.
Kris has performed with many jazz greats including
Tony Bennett, Patti Austin, Wess Anderson, Wycliffe Gordon, Jon
Hendricks, Monty Alexander, Rodney Whitaker & the MSU Professors of
Jazz, and many others. PBS viewers may have seen Kris in the
documentary “Inside Jazz: Everybody’s Welcome,” where Kris was a
featured soloist in a master class with jazz great Wynton
Marsalis.
Currently Kris is proud to be touring
with the world famous Count Basie Orchestra.
Kris has performed at the Idlewild, Lansing, and
East Lansing Jazz Festivals. He also performed with the Marcus Belgrave
Trumpet Summit at the 2003 Detroit Ford International Jazz Festival,
and with the Gerald Wilson Orchestra at the 2005, 2006, and 2007
Detroit Jazz Festivals. Kris was also a member of the Jonathon
Dixon Quintet, which won the Heineken Star Quest Jazz Competition and
performed at the Detroit Jazz Fest in 2005.
Kris recently received first place in the 8th Annual
Great American Song Contest (instrumental category) for his composition
“My Apologies.” “My Apologies” and several of his other
compositions are featured on his first CD release, “Exodus”
(2008). His writing can also be heard on the track “My Favorite
Things,” from Yolanda Adams’s 2007 release, “What a Wonderful Day,” on
which he played trumpet and arranged the horns. Kris has also composed
a jazz oratorio "Jim Crow's
Tears" which is influenced by the history of minstrelsy and
blackface. In July of 2008 Kris will premiere "Un Voyage dans les
Rêves", a piece commissioned by the Arts League of Michigan in
Detroit.
Kris served as the Assistant Director of Detroit Symphony Orchestra’s
Civic Jazz Ensembles from 2005 - 2008. This job entailed
directing weekly rehearsals with the Civic Jazz Band II and writing
custom arrangements for the Civic Jazz Orchestra and Civic Jazz Band
II. While pursuing his Master’s Degree at Michigan State, Kris
served as a Graduate Assistant teaching Beginning Jazz Improvisation I
& II, and conducting the MSU Jazz Octet III.
Kris is also a prominent private instructor who
consistently produces high quality students. Many of his students
have received scholarships to music programs and colleges including
Manhattan School of Music, Michigan State University, Interlochen Fine
Arts Academy & Camp, and the Stanford Jazz Workshop.
Kris has written three music theory books including
“Anthology of Scales,” “Anthology of Chords,” and “Anthology of
Intervals and Sequences.” He is also the co-author of a series of
jazz piano method books with Rick Roe (Associate Professor of Jazz
Piano, Michigan State University).