Kris Bowers

A Los Angeles native born in 1989, Kris Bowers absorbed classic soul and hip-hop from his parents’ collection before discovering jazz, classical repertoire, and cinematic scores. While enrolled at the Los Angeles County High School for the Arts he pursued simultaneous training in classical piano and jazz, appearing at multiple festivals throughout his teenage years. He later completed both bachelor’s and master’s degrees in jazz performance at Juilliard, where his reputation as a commanding pianist quickly took shape amid steady club work across New York City. In 2011 he captured first prize at the Thelonious Monk International Jazz Piano Competition and demonstrated his range by contributing to Jay-Z and Kanye West’s joint release Watch the Throne.

Bowers first reached a broader audience after that competition victory and the subsequent arrival of his 2014 debut album Heroes + Misfits, issued on Concord and fusing experimental jazz with R&B and electronic elements. Concurrently he entered film scoring, supplying music for the 2013 documentaries Seeds of Time and Elaine Stritch: Shoot Me, the 2016 documentary Norman Lear: Just Another Version of You, and the 2017 drama Dear White People. His contributions extended to the 2018 Academy Award-winning Green Book, the 2020 series Mrs. America, and the horror satire Bad Hair. Additional 2020 assignments included both Bridgerton and the companion album Bridgerton: Covers from the Netflix Original Series, earning a Grammy nomination for Best Score Soundtrack for Visual Media. He went on to compose for Blitz Bazawule’s 2023 adaptation of The Color Purple as well as Ava Duvernay’s Origin, while his score for the Netflix series Bridgerton garnered a separate Grammy nomination in 2023.