Chris Cody is an internationally recognized pianist and composer. In a career spanning over 40 years, He has headlined at numerous international festivals including Paris Quartiers d’Eté, London, Rome, Brussels Jazz Marathon, Stockholm, Munich, Marciac, Geneva, Ascona, Derry, Dar Es Salaam and Algiers and at a vast array of concert venues throughout the USA, Europe, Africa and Australasia, from the Village Gate NYC to the Munich Staatsoper.
He has worked with many outstanding international musicians including Roy Hargrove, Carla Bruni, Herb Geller, Tina Arena, Annie Whitehead, Rhoda Scott, Rick Margitza, Michel Jonaz, Sunny Murray, Marcel Azzola, Jason Marsalis, Sandy Evans, James Morrison and many more.
With 13 CDs of his music released on international labels Chris has received glowing reviews around the world, regularly featured on international radio and television and have collaborated on over thirty other international albums in a range of styles.
“Heart and soul has audience enthralled.” Sydney Morning Herald, Australia
“A piano style that enthuses, is luminous and breathes …very inspired… a remarkable pianist.” Jazz Hot, France
“Splendidly rich and varied ” Jazzwise, United Kingdom
“A fine mix of superior technical talent and youthful inventiveness” Variety USA
“Exceedingly gifted” The Australian
The more ambitious the project the more Chris Cody rises in stature… rhythmically shape-shifting…creative… thrilling” Sydney Morning Herald
Chris Cody’s compositions have been commissioned for the inauguration of the Australian Music Centre Paris, IRCAM France, Sydney Theatre Company, American Academy of Dance, Pillow Book Dance Company Pittsburg, and other French and American theatre companies. He has composed the music for eight films, winning prizes at Toronto, Pau and Sydney festivals, as well as several TV and Radio documentaries. Awards and distinctions include a US Department of State Federal award, an APRA nomination for my Naxos CD Oasis, a Django D’Or nomination France, and the Jazz Action Society Award for Best Composition.
Other diverse highlights include being invited to perform for UNESCO in Paris for Charlie Parker’s anniversary, concerts for the Australian Governor General and Australian and French Prime Ministers, his music being chosen for Qantas inflight jazz, and undertaking multiple tours throughout Europe and Africa with his group.
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CHRIS CODY, Piano, composition
Chris Cody is one of Australia’s foremost jazz musicians and has performed and recorded around the world. He began his musical career as a classical pianist in Australia, after being a finalist in the Roger Woodward Piano Scholarship at the age of 14. He gained a Bachelor’s Degree in music from the University of Sydney, where he studied with composer Peter Sculthorpe, and the Licentiate of Trinity College, London, with high distinction, for classical piano performance. He performed solo and chamber music at venues including the Sydney Opera House and Sydney Town Hall.
His musical versatility found expression in a wide variety of work situations, and he began to play with some of Australia’s leading jazz musicians such as James Morrison and Don Burrows. He played and composed for numerous musical productions in Sydney, worked with internationally renowned conductor Simone Young, and also wrote and directed the popular jazz cabaret 31 Celestial Flavors, that enjoyed repeat sell-out seasons in Sydney. He formed his own jazz quartet playing in local clubs, festivals and for Australian television and radio.
After gaining the Diploma in Jazz Studies at the Sydney Conservatorium and the Jazz Action Society Award for Best Jazz Composition in 1989, he left Australia to perform and tour in the USA and throughout Europe with international stars including Roy Hargrove, Antonio Hart, Sunny Murray, Herb Geller, Stephano di Battista, Frank Lacy, Graham Haynes, Rhoda Scott, Marcel Azzola and Yves Robert. Cody recorded with numerous artists before forming his own highly successful group in Paris – the Chris Cody Coalition – and recording his debut album in 1996, released to international acclaim.
Returning to Australia in 1997, he performed at Australia’s leading jazz venues and festivals including The Basement, Bennett’s Lane, Manly and Wangaratta Jazz Festivals. He formed an Australian version of the Cody Coalition featuring Sydney’s finest jazz musicians and recorded the CD Oasis on Naxos Jazz, receiving glowing tributes from press around the world and nominated for an ARIA award. Cody was a regular guest on radio programs, including Jazztrack, ABC FM, the 2BL Morning and Afternoon Shows, and The Planet (ABC). Chris Cody taught at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music in the Bachelor of Music program, as well as giving masterclasses at universities and conservatoriums around Australia, including the University of Sydney and the Australian Institute of Music. He also co-founded and directed the Sydney School of Piano. His music was selected for the in-flight jazz programs of several international airlines including Qantas. Chris also wrote music for theatre and cinema and appeared performing in the film Dr Jazz at the Sydney Film Festival. Chris was a featured guest and performer on numerous TV and radio programs around the world including France 2, TF1, BMV, Bernard Pivot, ABC TV and SBS TV. He also hosted his own jazz radio program in Sydney, Dr. Cody‘s Hip Transplants and found time to be a surf lifesaver at Bronte Beach.
Since his return to France in 2000, Cody has performed at numerous clubs and festivals around the country as well as in England, Germany, Italy, Switzerland, Belgium, Luxembourg, Cuba, Austria and Sweden. He was commissioned to compose and perform a suite of pieces for the inauguration of the Australian Music Centre in Paris and also composed and recorded the music for the Sydney Theatre Company’s production of Moliere’s Don Juan at the Sydney Opera House. He has performed and recorded his own compositions for Radio France, France Culture, France Musique, ABC and SBS TV, and has been a featured guest of national program “Jazz Club” on France Musique. He has also worked as a regular collaborator with the psycho-acoustic research team at IRCAM, Institute for Research and Coordination in Acoustics and Music, Paris. Chris Cody recorded a new CD Midnight Tide (Cristal/Harmonia Mundi), with top American trombonist Glenn Ferris, released to international acclaim in 2003, and followed with Conscript (Nocturne, France), receiving further accolades from press around the world. He continues to perform and record at major clubs and festivals throughout Europe, Africa and Australia at the head of his own group and as pianist with other leading ensembles.
His recent work includes performing for festivals in Marciac, Munich with Annie Whitehead, Paris Quarters d’Ete, Derry, Dar Es Salaam, Stockholm, Melbourne, and Sydney. He has co-produced a documentary, “Paris Ville de Musique”, on music in France for Australian television, several CDs for various international artists, and has written the music for several short prize winning films and national theatre plays in France, as well as creating and performing music for the American Academy of Dance Paris. Chris Cody recently received a US Department of State Federal Award to tour Algeria. He has also toured in Ireland, the UK, Portugal, Belgium, Switzerland, Sweden, Tanzania, and Zanzibar. He continues to perform freelance and with his jazz group around Europe, Australia, New Zealand and Asia working with a wide range of leading artists including Rick Margitza, Carla Bruni, and Michel Jonaz. He recently established his own record label, Wave Music, and released Not My Lover featuring his Sydney quartet.
Cody’s music reveals not only his deep love of the jazz and classical traditions, but also the influence of contemporary French and African musicians he has encountered in Paris, and its warmth, sense of space and humour touch a wide and diverse public around the world.
Contact:
Email: info@chriscody.com
Web: http://www.chriscody.com/
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/chriscodymusic/