Join Chris West in celebrating the release of the third and final album of The Surprise Trilogy on Wednesday, Dec 14, 2011.

The Surprise Trilogy is a project that West has been working on since mid 2008. The initial idea was a more organic, straight ahead follow-up album to his funky/acid jazz first release, Jazzmanic.

As he was slowly recording the songs for consideration (recording 2-3 songs at a time, once a month), West realized that he had written a lot of songs over the years, and wanted to record them all, if for nothing else, to archive. Eventually, he decided to record and release them all as The Surprise Trilogy.

This show will be held at the WO Smith Music School, located at 1125 8th Avenue South
Nashville, TN. It is on the corner of 8th Ave. and Edgehill. The show starts at 7pm.

In addition to special guests, the band will include:

Jon Paul Frappier – Trumpet
Chris Dunn – Trombone
Mason Embry – Keys
Pat Bergeson – Guitar
Jerry Navarro – Bass
Bob Harsen – Drums

$10 gets you in the door AND a copy of the CD!

Suprise Trilogy 3 will be available in both CD and digital download format shortly after the release party date from Chris West’s website.

Chris West CD Release Party
Surprise Trilogy 3
W.O. Smith Music School
1125 8th Avenue South
Nashville, TN
(615) 255-8355
Get Directions

Hello!

I am writing to ask for a small favor.

As you may know, I now have my first three CDs (Jazzmanic, The Surprise Trilogy Discs 1 and 2) for sale on my website. I also have them listed on Amazon, and iTunes.

If you have a minute, please stop by iTunes and/or Amazon and write a quick review and rate my albums. This could potentially help translate into more sales, gigs, and if nothing else, greater exposure and visibility of my music. I have posted links to the albums on Amazon below. Reviews on iTunes can be posted via the iTunes store.

Make no mistake, I would prefer you to make your purchases of my music (CD and Digital Downloads) from my website directly, since I get 100% of the purchase price to help fund subsequent recordings. The other sites typically take 30% or more from each purchase.

Additionally, I am in the process of manufacturing The Surprise Trilogy Disc 3 CDs. I am planning on releasing the album in December. I am very excited about it and looking forward to sharing all of my new music with you!

Thanks so much for all of your continued support, and make sure you stop by the website and check my upcoming Calendar dates, I have some exciting shows coming up.

Jazzmanic on Amazon

The Surprise Trilogy Disc 1 on Amazon

The Surprise Trilogy Disc 2 on Amazon

I will be performing all of the songs from the disc, which are all original, many of which have not been played out before. The night will feature many special guests such as Jeff Coffin, Rod McGaha, and Halfbrass. I also have a saxophone quartet lined up to play a particular song that is on the CD.

The Surprise Trilogy is a project that I have been working on since mid 2008. The initial idea was a more organic, straight ahead follow-up album to my funky/acid jazz first release, Jazzmanic. As I was slowly recording the songs for consideration (recording 2-3 songs at a time, once a month), I realized I had written a lot of songs over the years, and wanted to record them all, if for nothing else, to archive. Eventually, I decided to record and release them all as The Surprise Trilogy.

Surprise is a song that I wrote several years ago and have performed it in many different ensembles, and as a result, it has been played in many different ways. So I put a different version of Surprise as the first and last track of each disc (hence the name) to tie the albums together.

The album will be available in both CD and digital download formats here on my website after the release party date.

I am very excited to share with you the next part of this large project that I have been working very hard on for a long time. Please come out and celebrate with me.

- Chris

Hello friends. It’s been a little while since my last blog, and I have some very exciting things that are going on that I’d like to catch everyone up on.

The Surprise Trilogy is finally finished, and I celebrated the release of the first disc on Feb 10 at the Basement in Nashville. The show was GREAT! There was a great turn out at The Basement, the band sounded incredible, I had some very special guests, and the overall vibe was awesome. I was able to get not only the full band who played on the album, but also all of my special guests, such as Jeff Coffin, Don Aliquo, Rod McGaha, and Halfbrass. I was also able to get some great reviews for the show. You can read these on my website. I’m in the process now of promoting the new CD, trying to get it to different radio stations and publications for reviews. If any of you have any connections to radio/publications, any help would be greatly appreciated. Just drop by my website (Jazzmanic.com) and drop me an email.

I have planned the release of the second disc of the Trilogy for July 28 at the Basement. You can find out more info on my Calendar. I’m hoping to have some more very special guests at this next release as well.

Now that I’m finished with the writing and recording process of the Trilogy, I’ve started writing and tracking for my next project, which will probably be more along the lines of my first album, Jazzmanic, stylistically. I’ve been getting into a lot of programming lately and this new project will certainly reflect that. I’m hoping to release this disc in the middle of 2012 (after the third disc of the Trilogy is released). So please keep and eye and an ear open for that.

I’ve also been doing a lot of traveling. I went to Australia over Christmas and New Years with the Dynamites. We played 10 shows while we were there… all festivals. We made many new fans and friends and had a great time. In fact, I’m surprised I came back! Then, I went to LA for the NAMM show where I was able to meet up and play a few sets with my good friend Nioshi Jackson, as well as finalized a few endorsement deals that I’ve been working on for the past several months. I’m now endorsing Theo Wanne mouthpieces and Benz Reeds among other manufacturers.

Well, that’s about it for now. I’ve added a lot of new dates and information to my website, as well as started a YouTube channel and have uploaded several videos from my CD release party, as well as several Dynamites montages from our Australia and Europe trips. These will also be added to my website. So please stop by and check it out.

Hello friends!

The first album of my three CD compilation, The Trilogy, is almost ready! It is currently being duplicated and should be finished very soon. I’m hoping to have a CD release party in late October or early November, so keep an eye open for more details.

I’ve also been working on improving my home studio and I am currently recording material for a new album to be released after The Trilogy. This one will be a little more on the electronic side, lots of programming. I’m very excited about the new material. We will have some tracks available on the website soon.

The past several weeks have been very busy for me with some exciting shows. My good friend Oscar Utterstrom and I, and our group Halfbrass were featured artists/DJs on the Mando Blues radio show on Radio Free Nashville. Check them out at radiofreenashville.org. We also opened for Buckwheat Zydeco at the Franklin Jazz Fest last weekend, and had the honor of meeting Buckwheat himself.

I had the pleasure of playing with Bobby Keys (sax player for the Rolling Stones) at the Cannery Ballroom for a very fun show playing the entire Exile On Main St. album. It was a great show with a very good turn out. They’re hoping to do it again in February, so keep an eye out for it.

I am playing in new band called Silent Brew that’s based off of Miles Davis’ band he used on the albums In A Silent Way and Bitches Brew (2 drummers, 2 keyboards, guitar, bass, sax/bass clarinet, and trumpet). We had our debut performance at the Exit Inn last week and it was an INCREDIBLE show!!! I am really looking forward to more gigs with this ensemble.

I also got to meet and play for Barbara Mandrell with Mike Farris at a benefit put on by the Mandrell’s. She was very complimentary and I even got my picture taken with her. I also appeared with Mike at the AMA at the Ryman. It was a slammin’ show.

Please check the Calendar, I have a lot of exciting shows coming up. Also, be sure to sign up for my Newsletter.

Hope to see you soon,

Chris

Well, the past month and a half has been very busy and exciting for me.

First and foremost, the artwork for my new 3 volume release, The Surprise Trilogy, is finally finished (thanks toErick Anderson!!!!!!!). I will be sending the first album off for duplication in the next couple of week, and hopefully will have an album release party scheduled for late October or November. So, please keep an eye open for that.

I’ve been working on tracks for my next CD project (after the Trilogy). I also finished up tracking for another CD project with some old friends from the Guy Smiley Blues Exchange (Pete Meriwether and Frank Reynolds) as well as other top notch musicians/friend (Scott Hall). I will start overdubs for that next week and hopefully that will be available by the end of the year!! This will be all original songs by the four of us, and it is an interesting mix of prog rock/funk/jazz/fusion/zappa-esq music. I’ve also been working on tracks for several other recording projects for various
people ranging from bluegrass, to big band, to funk, etc. I’ve been very fortunate to get to work on a great variety of really good music lately.

Several new dates have been added to my Calendar, so be sure to check that out!

As always, thanks so much for all of your support!

Chris

Hello Friends,

Sorry it’s been a while since my last blog, I’ve been rather busy lately. I just got back from Europe with the Dynamites, and I must admit this was the best Europe trip yet. We went to Norway for the first time, and also returned to Finland, UK, Belgium, France, and Spain. I made several new friends and left with tons of inspiration!!

My new CD trilogy, entitled The Surprise Trilogy is so close to being done, pretty much just need a cover! So be on the lookout of that very soon. In the meantime, you can purchase my first CD entitled Jazzmanic from the website (www.jazzmanic.com). Also, I will have tracks for the new trilogy, as well as other tracks I’ve been working on available to purchase and download from the website very soon.

Be sure to look at the calendar for any upcoming shows, and I hope to see you all very soon!!

Chris

Things have been a little busy lately, and I have some exciting things coming up!! First, the Dynamites next album, entitled Burn It Down, is finished and is set to be released in mid-September. I have a song on this one (a cowrite with organist Charles Treadway) that I’m very excited about. We just returned from a tour in Colorado that was very successful and we head back to Europe on July 9 for two weeks in France, Spain, and Switzerland.

I’ve also been touring with Columbia recording artist Mike Farris. We played at Bonaroo this past month and will be taking off to California to play the High Sierra Music Fest for July 4th weekend.

I’ve been working on finishing up my new project, the Surprise Trilogy. Most of the recording is finished and the first of the three discs should be released by the end of the year!!! Keep an eye open for that. I also purchased a new horn a couple weeks ago that I’m very excited about; an old King Super 20 made in 1954. This horn gives me a warmer, meatier tone than the one I’ve been playing.

Other than that, I’ve been doing a lot of arranging for different albums coming out soon, a couple that I’m really excited about: strings on an album by Pastor Seon Thompson entitled “I’m Out” and horn arrangements on an album by Sarah Williams entited “Ruby”. Keep an eye open for these projects coming out soon.

Chris, Jerry, and Bubby in Rotterdam

Hello all,

I’ve returned from Europe. I was very fortunate to hit a few new countries on this trip (Holland and England), as well as visit a few countries which we’ve played in before (Germany, France, Spain, Belgium, Switzerland.) I made several new friends and even ran into some old friends. And although I had a great time, I’m glad to be home. I’ve spent the past week playing catch up from being gone, as well as getting charts together for my next studio session this week, as well as for my performance at Windows off the Cumberland on Wednesday.

I had the honor to play with Motown’s own Bob Babbitt. He was the house bass player for Motown after James Jamerson and is the bass player on several Motown classics. We played a benefit in Hendersonville this past Saturday night. I had a great time and hope I’m fortunate enough to get to play with this group some more.

I hope everyone is well and look forward to seeing everyone on Wednesday, December 10, 2008 at Windows Off the Cumberland (check my Calendar for more details).

Chris

Chris West, on tour, in Bordeaux, France

Hello Friends,

I’m currently in Europe (Germany) on tour with The Dynamites, and things are going great! We’ve played 4 shows so far, 3 in Germany and 1 in London (at the legendary Jazz Café) and they have all been incredible!!! Great crowds, great venues, great food, etc. I am meeting some wonderful people and making new friends as well as running into some old friends from high school (hey Kinzli). I will be here until Dec. 1, performing in Germany, UK, France, Belgium, Holland, Spain, and Switzerland. For more details on what cities and venues be sure to check the calendar section.

I also wanted to let everyone know about my new project I’m working on. I’ve been in the studio for the past several months working on my newest album. This project is mostly straight ahead(ish) jazz, slightly different from my first project, Jazzmanic, in that it is a little less funky and a little more jazzy. I’m very excited about this project. This is something I’ve been wanting to do for a while and I’m finally making it happen. I will be finishing recording in December and January, and plan on releasing it shortly after. Keep an eye and ear open and I’ll continue to update everyone on my progress. And again, you can always get the latest news here at www.jazzmanic.com. You can also sign up for my newsletter and we will send out regular updates.

Thanks for keeping up and I look forward to seeing everyone when I return.

Chris