About Me
Click here to visit Chris Bergson's website and join the MAILING LIST: www.chrisbergson.com
FALL CHANGES now available at iTunes, Amazon, CD Baby, eMusic, Rhapsody, Napster, and chrisbergson.com
"Bergson's stirring voice and glorious guitar command immediate attention."
- BLUES REVUE
"Gut-busting, horn-bedecked NY blues."
- MOJO
"Chris Bergson is a serious talent…both jazzy and bluesy with a slight dash of rock and massive amounts of melody, Fall Changes is a treat."
- LIVING BLUES
"Chris Bergson plays the kind of guitar you can build a house on…it's B.B. meets Steve Cropper meets John Scofield."
- ROLL Magazine
"This magnificent collection by Chris Bergson, recorded at Levon Helm’s Woodstock studios, follows the Band in drawing intuitively and seamlessly from blues, country, folk, funk, soul and jazz. Bergson has the kind of voice that can be sepia-tinted, whiskey soaked or nicotine stained to fit the requisite style and mood, standing alongside Gregg Allman, Dr John, Van Morrison and Danko / Helm."
- LEICESTER BANGS (UK)
“It takes a confident musician to pack his band with some of the hottest players in New York City, but singer/songwriter/guitarist Chris Bergson is equal to the company he keeps. Starting with the rocking “Gowanus Heights†from his recently released album Fall Changes, the young virtuoso took charge of the stage. He growled out the vivid lyrics about Brooklyn street life and launched a series of dazzling flights of fancy on the guitar, playing as organically as if the instrument were a third arm.â€
- BLUES REVUE
Brooklyn-based guitarist, vocalist and songwriter Chris Bergson creates his own blend of rootsy blues and soul. Bergson has performed with Levon Helm, Norah Jones, Little Sammy Davis, Ollabelle and Larry Campbell as well as jazz legends Annie Ross and Al Foster. The Chris Bergson Band has headlined at such top New York City venues as Joe's Pub, The Brooklyn Academy of Music, The Blue Note, The Living Room, and Jazz Standard. Chris has also performed at the 606 Club (London), B.B. King’s Blues Club (NYC), the Regattabar (Cambridge, MA) and the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts (Washington, DC). Bergson has appeared at the Cape May Jazz Festival (NJ), the Black-Eyed and Blues Festival (Hartford, CT), and the Leicester City Blues Festival (UK). Bergson has supported Etta James, Levon Helm, Mose Allison, the Average White Band and Dr. Lonnie Smith.
The Chris Bergson Band's new album, FALL CHANGES (2 Shirts Records), recorded at Levon Helm Studios in Woodstock, NY has drawn rave reviews in MOJO, BLUES REVUE, ELMORE and LIVING BLUES. The venerable British publication MOJO praised the Chris Bergson Band's "gut-busting, horn-bedecked NY Blues" and featured "Gowanus Heights" as 5 on the December 2007 MOJO Playlist. FALL CHANGES also hit number 23 on the December 2007 Living Blues Radio Charts. "Chris Bergson's youthful vitality combines with the gravelly voice and blues sensibility of an old soul," writes Kay Cordtz in BLUES REVUE. "He has a flair for writing songs that ring true, especially when played by his group of some of the hippest, most talented musicians on today's scene."
Replete with the warm sound of Helm's studio, FALL CHANGES features stellar performances from Chris Bergson on guitar and vocals, Jay Collins (Gregg Allman, James Hunter) on tenor sax and backing vocals, Bruce Katz (John Hammond, Ronnie Earl) on piano and B-3 organ, and Tony Leone (Ollabelle). Special guests include vocalist Amy Helm and a Stax-styled horn section arranged by Jay Collins featuring Erik Lawrence on baritone sax and Kenny Rampton on trumpet. Writing in the February 2008 issue of LIVING BLUES, Dave Ruthenberg notes that, "Bergson gives early notice to the listener on the album's opening cut, 'Gowanus Heights', of his prowess as both a performer and songwriter. With a horn section that would do the old Stax crew proud, Bergson lures the listener into his world of jazz influenced blues and doesn't let up until the final cut."
According to Bergson, traveling to Woodstock to record had an air of pilgrimage about it, as he counts Helm and The Band among his biggest influences. Levon's studio, a renovated barn nestled in the Catskills, has an impressive history with an almost magical list of past clients - The Band, Muddy Waters, Dr. John, Eric Clapton and Keith Richards. The FALL CHANGES sessions proved to be magical as well; not only were the eleven CD tracks cut, but it was also here that Helm first heard Bergson play, prompting an invite to join him at his Midnight Ramble concerts. Listening to FALL CHANGES, it's easy to hear what caught his ear.
