Born in 1947, Chris Biscoe was drawn to jazz by hearing Fats Waller, Erroll Garner and Benny Goodman on the radio. Early listening to Lester Young and Stan Getz (Jazz Samba) and Charlie Parker led to him starting to learn alto sax in 1963. Chris is self-taught on sax and clarinet. Turning to tenor sax in 1965, Chris’s major influences were Sonny Rollins, Charlie Rouse and Dexter Gordon, but after his tenor was stolen he returned to alto.

While studying at Sussex University Chris met pianist Ben Sidran and made his first recording with Ben in 1970. After graduating in 1968 Chris played gigs in London but soon realised that not reading music was a serious barrier, so under the influence of educator and composer Ken Gibson began to attend rehearsal bands and joined NYJO, with which he made two LPs. He became a professional player in 1973...[more]