Chris Walker has earned recognition both as an accomplished sideman and as a lead performer, bringing his soulful vocals and jazz bass technique to projects spanning jazz, R&B, and gospel. After working with Ornette Coleman and serving as musical director for Regina Belle during the 1990s, he issued his first solo album, First Time, in 1991. He has since alternated between session appearances and his own releases, among them I Know It's Love in 2005 and Zone in 2011, while also joining forces with Al Jarreau, Gerald Albright, Terri Lynne Carrington, and additional artists.
Born in Houston, Walker began singing in church as a member of his family’s gospel group, the Walker Brothers. His interest in the bass developed through exposure to Jimi Hendrix and soon extended to jazz. Upon graduating from Houston’s High School for the Performing and Visual Arts, he moved to New York and obtained a full scholarship to the New School for Jazz and Contemporary Music, where he performed with Art Blakey, Jimmy Heath, Bob James, Cassandra Wilson, and other jazz figures.
After his studies, Walker simultaneously held the roles of touring bassist with Ornette Coleman and musical director for Regina Belle. Over two years he balanced these duties while refining his own singing and songwriting. He later committed exclusively to Belle, a decision that freed time for his solo career. The 1991 debut First Time produced the Top Five R&B singles “Giving You All My Love” and “Take Time,” the latter also reaching the pop Top 30. Its successor, 1993’s Sincerely Yours, contained the single “How Do You Heal a Broken Heart.”
In addition to ongoing work with Belle, Walker recorded multiple albums with Al Jarreau and collaborated with Mark Whitfield, George Benson, Dee Dee Bridgewater, Kirk Whalum, and others. While preparing demos for another artist, he met businessman and songwriter Ray Davis; the pair wrote twelve songs that appeared on I Know It's Love in 2005. One-third of the album’s proceeds supported the American Diabetes Association in honor of Miss Mary Glenn, the woman who raised Walker. Zone, released in 2011, featured the single “I Got That Love.” In 2014 Walker co-founded the nonprofit DocFest to provide scholarship funds for graduates of Houston’s High School for the Performing and Visual Arts to attend the New School. He resumed solo recording in 2019 with We’re in This Love Together: Celebrating Al Jarreau.
