Jay Collins: Tenor Saxophone and Backing Vocals

Bruce Katz: B3 Organ and Piano

Chris Berger: Bass

Tony Leone: Drums

Brooklyn-based guitarist/singer/songwriter Chris Bergson creates his own brand of contemporary Americana where “…funk, soul, blues, folk and delectable jazz come together seamlessly” (All About Jazz). Led by Bergson’s soulful vocals and dynamic guitar, the Chris Bergson Band features Jay Collins (Allman Brothers, Levon Helm, James Hunter) on tenor sax and backing vocals, Bruce Katz (John Hammond, Ronnie Earl) on piano and B-3 organ, Tony Leone (Ollabelle, Donald Fagen) on drums, and bassist Chris Berger (Jeff “Tain” Watts, Russell Mallone).

The Chris Bergson Band’s critically acclaimed 2005 release, Another Day [2 Shirts Records] drew on the rich legacy of American Roots music. “Bergson’s vocals are warm and personal. ‘Come and Gone’ simmers; gorgeous ballads ‘Another Day’ and ‘High Above the Morning’ are deep country soul,” wrote Blues Revue. Guitar Player’s Andy Ellis said, “On ‘Another Day,’ Chris Bergson makes his thin-line Gibson sound fat and funky in true Big Easy style, pays tribute to Curtis Mayfield with sweet double-stops, and picks angular blues-bop lines like a tightly wound New York hipster. Bergson has tone and vibe to spare."

Born in Manhattan and raised in Somerville, MA, Bergson came to New York in 1995, playing jazz, and accompanying many great singers like Annie Ross, Dena DeRose and Norah Jones. Master jazz guitarist Jim Hall hailed Bergson as being “among the best of the young jazz guitarists.” Bergson recorded two critically acclaimed jazz CDs as a leader for Juniper Records, appeared on many other releases as a sideman, and performed at such top NYC clubs as The Blue Note, Jazz Standard and Smoke. A particular highlight of this period was a weekend engagement at the Fat Cat playing trio with master drummer and Miles Davis alum, Al Foster.

In 2002, Bergson was appointed a Jazz Ambassador of the United States of America by the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts and the U.S. State Department. Chris’ trio toured eight countries in West Africa including Ghana, Senegal, Nigeria and Benin, giving concerts and clinics on the blues for local musicians.

Bergson’s years in the trenches as a jazz musician gave him a mastery of his instrument and a joyous freedom as an improviser that is infectious to the listener. But as Mick Rainsford of Blues in Britain notes, “Bergson had another love, blues and roots music, offering him the opportunity to expand his musical repertoire and develop the highly personalized blend of blues, jazz and soul that makes ‘Another Day’ such an outstanding set.”

October 2006 saw Chris and his band return to the studio to record their follow-up album, Fall Changes. Recorded and mixed at Levon Helm Studios in Woodstock, NY and mastered at New York City’s Sterling Sound, the new release highlights Bergson’s honest storytelling, soulful vocals and the first class musicianship of a true working band.

From the opening bars of the Stax-influenced contemporary soul classic “Gowanus Heights” to the blues-based rock anthem “Float Your Mind,” Bergson takes us on a musical journey as dynamic, exhilarating, and hard-hitting as the Gowanus neighborhood in Brooklyn he calls home.

Traveling to Woodstock to record had an air of pilgrimage about it – Bergson counts Levon Helm and The Band among his biggest influences. Levon’s studio, a renovated barn nestled in the Catskills, has an impressive history and list of past clients that includes The Band, Muddy Waters, Dr. John, Eric Clapton and Keith Richards. Bergson’s own sessions at the studio proved magical as well; not only did he cut the eleven songs for Fall Changes, but it was at these sessions that Helm first heard him play. A few days later Bergson was invited to join Helm at his upcoming Midnight Ramble concerts. Over the next few months, while mixing this record, Bergson logged some serious road miles driving back and forth from his Brooklyn home to Woodstock to perform with Levon’s band. Capping off 2006, Bergson was invited to perform his own set at the Ramble on New Year’s Eve, giving the audience a sneak preview of the material on the new CD.

The Chris Bergson Band has headlined at such top New York City venues as Joe’s Pub, The Blue Note, The Living Room and Jazz Standard. Chris has also performed at B.B. King’s Blues Club (NYC), the Regattabar (Cambridge, MA) and the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts (Washington, D.C.). He has also appeared twice at the Cape May Jazz Festival in tributes to Ray Charles and Wes Montgomery, and has opened for Etta James, Mose Allison, the Average White Band and Dr. Lonnie Smith.

Ted Drozdowski of The Boston Phoenix writes, “NYC singer/guitarist Chris Bergson’s smooth, jazz-inflected take on the blues marks this young artist as a player who may just help extend the genre’s shelf life.”