Chris Pasin, a graduate of the New England Conservatory, spent two years playing with the Buddy Rich band in the early 80’s, touring with Frank Sinatra, Tony Bennett, Mel Torme, Sarah Vaughn, Ella Fitzgerald, Nancy Wilson, and many others. Then he relocated to New York City. Much of the next decade was spent playing jazz with various groups, including the Toshiko Akiyoshi/Lew Tabackin big band. There was also work with Jack McDuff, many Salsa bands like Johnny Rodriguez and Brazilian bands like Amazon, and various other jazz ensembles, including the Lee Shaw quintet in recent years.
Recently, he released the CDs “Detour Ahead,” and “Random Acts of Kindness,” comprised largely of his own diverse compositions, and has a release, “Baby It’s Cold Outside,” of reimagined holiday music, to critical acclaim, and his recent album “Ornettiquette,” playing the music of and inspired by Ornette Coleman, Albert Ayler, and Don Cherry.
Chris is now playing jazz frequently with various musicians in and around the New York area, writing music to record for several current projects. And Chris has recorded with the likes of Gunther Schuller, George Russell, and Toshiko Akiyoshi. His flugelhorn on the soundtrack has been called the best thing about the movie, “Ishtar,” and he appears as a sideman on numerous jazz albums.
He has recorded on dozens of albums for a myriad of artists, often with The North Country Horns co-led by saxophonist/arranger Jay Collins. #NorthCountryHorns
He’s performed at Carnegie Hall, the Apollo Theater, the Royal Albert Hall, the Village Vanguard, Ronnie Scott’s, and the Blue Note, among others, and toured Europe and Asia many times.