Chris Anderson (piano)

Chris Anderson (February 26, 1926 in Chicago – February 4, 2008 in Manhattan, NYC) is a jazz pianist who might be best known as an influence on Herbie Hancock.

Self-taught, he began in Chicago clubs in the mid-1940s and played with Von Freeman and Charlie Parker, among others. Hired as Sarah Vaughan's accompanist, he lasted six weeks with the cantankerous singer; fired in New York, he stayed there. In 1960 he had what might be his best regarded album in which he with bassist Bill Lee and drummer Art Taylor. His student Herbie Hancock praised him highly saying that, "After hearing him play just once, I begged him to let me study with him." [http://www.mapleshaderecords.com/cds/56922.php]

Despite the respect of his peers, Anderson had difficulty finding work or popular acclaim due in large to his disabilities. He is blind and his bones are unusually fragile causing numerous fractures. This at times compromised his ability to perform at the times or places requested. That stated his most recent CD was in 2002 when he was well into his 70s.

External links

* [http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=11:5auh6jah7190~T1 All Music]
* [http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9A0DEFDE1138F937A1575AC0A964948260 New York Times]
* [http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/09/arts/music/09anderson.html?ref=music New York Times Obituary]
* [http://jazztimes.com/columns_and_features/news/detail.cfm?article=11352 Jazz Times Obituary]
* [http://www.jazz.com/jazz-blog/2008/2/12/herbie-chris-chicago "Herbie Hancock, Chris Anderson and the Chicago School of Modern Jazz Piano"] at [http://www.jazz.com Jazz.com] .