Biography
Singer, songwriter, bandleader, and producer Chris Bergson distinguishes himself among today’s abundant blues guitarists through an extensive history spent supporting jazz artists on guitar. His own compositions explore fresh territory within the blues idiom, while his concerts blend blues, Americana, jazz, and blues-rock into a cohesive performance. That same lengthy tenure as a jazz sideman naturally shaped the direction he took once he chose to make blues his primary focus.
Born in Manhattan and raised in Somerville, Massachusetts, Bergson moved back to New York in 1995. During his initial period there he provided guitar support for jazz vocalists including Annie Ross, Dena DeRose, Sasha Dobson, and the jazz-pop phenom Norah Jones. After deliberately shifting his focus to establish himself as a multifaceted blues and Americana singer, songwriter, and guitarist, he issued three well-regarded albums on his own 2 Shirts Records imprint: Blues in 2003, Another Day in 2005, and the standout Fall Changes in 2007. His prior recordings, both issued by Juniper Records, were Blues for Some Friends of Mine in 1997 and Wait for Spring in 2000.
Legendary Band drummer Levon Helm welcomed Bergson and his group into his circle, much as he had done with the Alexis P. Suter Band, supplying them with recording facilities and regular opening slots at his small-scale Midnight Ramble concerts held at his Woodstock, New York studios. The entire Fall Changes album was captured at Helm’s upstate location, an apt choice given Bergson’s longstanding admiration for Helm and the rest of the Band. Earlier artists who worked at the same studio include the Band, Muddy Waters, Dr. John, Eric Clapton, and Keith Richards. While Fall Changes was being tracked, Helm caught Bergson performing and immediately asked him to join a Midnight Ramble bill, an event limited to roughly one hundred attendees. On that album Bergson presents his own agile compositions rooted in a strong Brooklyn sense of place, such as “Gowanus Heights,” alongside inventive reinterpretations of Bob Dylan’s “When I Paint My Masterpiece,” Ray Charles’ “Drown in My Own Tears,” and Jimi Hendrix’s “Are You Experienced?”
The Chris Bergson Band has carried its sound well beyond Brooklyn and Manhattan, appearing at festivals including the Cape May Jazz Festival, South by Southwest in Austin, Texas, the Woodstock Blues Festival, the New York State Blues Festival, and Moulin Blues, along with additional European dates in the Netherlands and elsewhere. In 2002 the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts and the U.S. State Department named Bergson a Jazz Ambassador of the United States of America; his trio subsequently traveled through eight West African nations, presenting concerts and lectures on the blues for local musicians. Bergson and his band persist in touring and recording, and he continues to rank among the most inventive songwriters working in contemporary blues.
Born in Manhattan and raised in Somerville, Massachusetts, Bergson moved back to New York in 1995. During his initial period there he provided guitar support for jazz vocalists including Annie Ross, Dena DeRose, Sasha Dobson, and the jazz-pop phenom Norah Jones. After deliberately shifting his focus to establish himself as a multifaceted blues and Americana singer, songwriter, and guitarist, he issued three well-regarded albums on his own 2 Shirts Records imprint: Blues in 2003, Another Day in 2005, and the standout Fall Changes in 2007. His prior recordings, both issued by Juniper Records, were Blues for Some Friends of Mine in 1997 and Wait for Spring in 2000.
Legendary Band drummer Levon Helm welcomed Bergson and his group into his circle, much as he had done with the Alexis P. Suter Band, supplying them with recording facilities and regular opening slots at his small-scale Midnight Ramble concerts held at his Woodstock, New York studios. The entire Fall Changes album was captured at Helm’s upstate location, an apt choice given Bergson’s longstanding admiration for Helm and the rest of the Band. Earlier artists who worked at the same studio include the Band, Muddy Waters, Dr. John, Eric Clapton, and Keith Richards. While Fall Changes was being tracked, Helm caught Bergson performing and immediately asked him to join a Midnight Ramble bill, an event limited to roughly one hundred attendees. On that album Bergson presents his own agile compositions rooted in a strong Brooklyn sense of place, such as “Gowanus Heights,” alongside inventive reinterpretations of Bob Dylan’s “When I Paint My Masterpiece,” Ray Charles’ “Drown in My Own Tears,” and Jimi Hendrix’s “Are You Experienced?”
The Chris Bergson Band has carried its sound well beyond Brooklyn and Manhattan, appearing at festivals including the Cape May Jazz Festival, South by Southwest in Austin, Texas, the Woodstock Blues Festival, the New York State Blues Festival, and Moulin Blues, along with additional European dates in the Netherlands and elsewhere. In 2002 the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts and the U.S. State Department named Bergson a Jazz Ambassador of the United States of America; his trio subsequently traveled through eight West African nations, presenting concerts and lectures on the blues for local musicians. Bergson and his band persist in touring and recording, and he continues to rank among the most inventive songwriters working in contemporary blues.
Albums
Singles
