Chris Carroll began his musical journey playing the cello and the orchestra snare in grade school. While attending military school in his early teens, he received a firm foundation in military drum rudiments, which shaped the early stages of his musical development. Chris started his professional career at age 13, and with continued studies at a BOCES Cultural Arts high school, he discovered his love for improvisational music. Subsequently, he graduated from the The New School, where he studied with Gary Chaffee, Jim Chapin, Adam Nussbaum. His post graduate studies continued with awards from the NEA, The New School and 2 years of study at The Banff Center. Currently, he is actively studying Hindustani music on tabla with Dan Weiss (Discipline of Samir Chatterjee).
As a leader Chris has released his CD “Facing Away”, a collection of his arrangements of jazz standards by composers such as Ornette Coleman, Thelonius Monk and Charles Mingus. As a sideman he has recorded with Nat Janoff (Come Together Move Apart), Bryan Murray’s (What you don’t Forget) and Justin Flynn (Evolution).
Current projects:
•South American Jazz Project: mixes traditional South American based rhythms such as Venezuelan Merengue, Joropo and Chacarera in a contemporary jazz setting. ConAlma,
•Open Source: geared towards new improvisational directions using ethnic based music such as Balkan, Arabic and Klezmer Music in a jazz context. Makhol, Dog River
•Chris Carroll Trio: explores reworkings of the American songbook using new rhythmic and harmonic possibilities. But Not For Me
As a sideman, you can find Chris playing in the New York City area with Micheal O’Brien Group, Nat Janoff Quartet, Samuel Blais. In addition, he regularly performs as a sideman with top NY jazz musicians including Donny McCaslin, Ben Monder, Brad Shepik, Ron Affif, Paul Bollenback, Hans Glawischnig, Matt Penman, George Colligan, Ben Street, Drew Gress, and Vic Juris.
Chris lives in NYC area where in addition to leading his own band, he teaches drums and is a music engineer.
Read more...