Corey Christiansen Quartet
| Corey Christiansen
Widely heralded as a gifted young player with a passionate sound, jazz-guitarist Corey Christiansen took up the instrument at the age of five under the direction of his father, Mike Christiansen, Chairman of Guitar Studies at Utah State University. Corey earned a bachelor’s degree in music from Utah State and a master’s degree in jazz performance from the University of South Florida. Awakening, Corey’s first CD as a leader, was the initial release on Mel Bay Records, the entertainment-recording division of Mel Bay Publications. Awakening spent twelve weeks on the JazzWeek chart, reaching number sixteen in March 2005. The title track, an original composition, consistently receives the most airplay from the recording. His first performance DVD – Vic Juris & Corey Christiansen: Live at the Smithsonian Jazz Café – was released in July 2006. Jazzwise-reviewer Mike Flynn gave the recording four stars, noting that “…Christiansen is well versed in the guitar’s sonic heritage and his judicious sense of phrasing finds him light-fingered even on the densest of changes and positively euphoric on his ballad work.” In November 2006 Mel Bay Records released MB3 / Jazz Hits / Volume One, a guitar-trio CD featuring Corey, Vic, and fellow Mel Bay guitarist Jimmy Bruno, with Danny Gottlieb on drums and Jay Anderson on bass. MB3: Jazz Hits Volume 1 spent three weeks in January 2007 as the #1 jazz recording on jazz radio in North America. Corey has played the Syracuse Jazz Festival, the Lionel Hampton Jazz Festival, the Festival of the Midnight Sun (Helsinki, Finland), the Umbria Jazz Festival (Perugia, Italy), Gerald Veasley’s Jazz Base (Reading, PA), Jazz in June (Lincoln, NE), The Northwest Arkansas Summer Jazz Series, the Clearwater Jazz Festival, the St. Louis Jazz Festival, the Daytona Beach Jazz Festival, the Whitaker Music Festival (St. Louis), the Classic American Guitar Show (Long Island, NY), John Pisano’s Guitar Night (Los Angeles), Chris’ Jazz Café (Philadelphia), the Blue Wisp (Cincinnati), Dazzle (Denver), and the Bistro at Grand Center (St. Louis). He has played or recorded with an impressive roster of artists, including John Pisano, Andy Summers, Willie Akins, Chuck Red, Rob McConnel, Sid Jacobs, Jack Wilkins, Bruce Saunders, Randy Johnston, Phil DeGreg, Steve Davis, Shelly Berg, Terreon Gully, Chuck Owen, Frank Vignola, Tom Kennedy, and Anthony Wilson. Corey served as senior editor for Mel Bay Publications from 2000 to 2007 and has written or co-written more than 70 books for the company. As well as maintaining an active international performance and touring schedule he currently is the Director of Curriculum at The Music School in American Fork, UT. He is an “artist in residence” at the Atlanta Institute of Music. | |
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