Stutches by Chris Kelsey Jack DeSalvo Tom Tedesco

Though today he performs on the entire array of saxophones centered around his straight alto sax, when he was first on the New York City Downtown scene Chris Kelsey was an avowed soprano-only player. Chris met Jack DeSalvo and Tom Tedesco at ABC No Rio, then known also as The Bunker. DeSalvo was fresh from the road, playing guitar in Ronald Shannon Jackson's Decoding Society while Tedesco just finished recording with Karl Berger, Anthony Cox and DeSalvo at Carla Bley's Grog Kill Studio. Tedesco had just opened his own studio in New Jersey, so the trio decided to record sans-bass, with DeSalvo playing electric and classical guitars adding banjo and mandolin while Tedesco played tablas and drum set. Kelsey's sinewy soprano soars over and weaves through the proceedings in this seminal album of improvised music.

Chris Kelsey made a name for himself playing, composing, teaching, and writing about modern jazz. He's recorded and produced abundantly as a leader, for C.I.M.P and Unseen Rain, and his own Saxofonis and Tzazz Krytyk imprints. his CD, What I Say: The Electric Miles Project, won a 2013 Independent Music Award. His first novel, Where the Hurt Is, was published in 2018 by Black Rose Writing.