Chris Walker

Biography

Born and raised in Houston TX, Chris Walker began singing before he began speaking. Like most Southern grown soul singers, he got his start in the church as a member of his family gospel group, The Walker Brothers. Chris plays the bass upside down like one of his early hero’s Jimi Hendrix. The Walker’s raised their children with a strong hand, and once Chris graduated from the High School of Performing and Visual Arts in Houston, he was all too happy to high-tail it to New York, with only forty...

Born and raised in Houston TX, Chris Walker began singing before he began speaking. Like most Southern grown soul singers, he got his start in the church as a member of his family gospel group, The Walker Brothers. Chris plays the bass upside down like one of his early hero’s Jimi Hendrix. The Walker’s raised their children with a strong hand, and once Chris graduated from the High School of Performing and Visual Arts in Houston, he was all too happy to high-tail it to New York, with only forty dollars, in pursuit of his dreams of doing his own music. With aspirations of attending the New School for Jazz and Contemporary Music, he sold his bass amp and bought a one-way ticket to New York; despite being denied due to inability to pay the tuition. Fate, however, would intervene as Walker was walking the halls and happened to come upon a jam session in need of a bass player. When he took the stage and fell into place with the other musicians the school dean just so happened to hear him and offered him a full scholarship on the spot and so begun another chapter in his musical journey.
In his tenure at the school, Chris was afforded the opportunity to play with such Jazz greats as Ornette Coleman, Art Blakey, Bob James, Jimmy Heath, Cassandra Wilson and countless others. Mastering his skills on the drums, bass, piano and guitar his musicianship garnered him a position as the musical director for R&B songstress Regina Belle as well as touring with Ornette Coleman. For the next two years he juggled between the two tours until forced to have to choose between conflicting schedules; and with his own desire to sing and do music burgeoning, he chose to stay with Ms. Belle.
While touring with Regina Belle, who at the time was in the height of her career, Chris came to the attention of then CBS record executive Ruben Rodriguez during an artist showcase and he was impressed by Walker’s vocal ability on “All I Want is Forever” a duet previously recorded by Ms. Belle and James “JT” Taylor. Rodriguez originally wanted to recruit Chris for CBS but he decided to make Walker the first artist on his own independent label, Pendulum Records.
Chris Walker’s first Pendulum release “First Time” produced two top five singles; “Giving You All My Love” and “Take Time,” which crossed over to become top 30 on the pop charts. His second Pendulum release entitled Sincerely Yours unfortunately didn’t fair as well from a sales perspective, but Walker still remained in demand as a vocalist and touring musician. As a student and lover of jazz music it was an opportunity that came via a former teacher, Gil Goldstein, that would bring to fruition a longtime dream of Walker.“ I was at a concert one day with my then girlfriend and we were watching Al Jarreau” He remembers, “ I remember being so in awe because I loved Al Jarreau and told her one day I’m going to perform with him.” Almost as if he had spoke it into existence, it wasn’t long after that his teacher called and asked if he would like to perform with Al Jarreau. Needless to say, he got the gig and Walker has worked as Jarreau’s musical director ever since.
With things in the industry coming full circle for Walker, in 2007 he and his partner Ray J. Davis, formed Walker Davis Entertainment and later signed Regina Belle in association with Ruben Rodriguez and Pendulum Records. Having spent the last several decades creating music for other artists, Chris is ready to put his artist hat back on and is ready to release a new project on his own label imprint. The first single “I Got That Love” is proof that Walker hasn’t missed a beat by any means. The mid-tempo groove is a refreshing testament to love-making for the grown and sexy. The track, produced by Chris Walker, is a culmination of some of the influences Walker credits with his love of music including Donny Hathaway, Marvin Gaye and Luther Vandross. His vocal range treads the scale with a romantic delicacy that marries his lower register and falsetto perfectly, as is showcased in his cover of a classic Luther Vandross song, If Only For One Night. With the experience of his craft as his backdrop, his vocal stylings sets him apart from the pack thanks to his distinguished and recognizable style. “Performing is like an out of body experience for me” explains Walker. “And I do whatever it takes to translate that feeling to my audience when I perform.” Chris is currently working with film producer/director, Andres Santamaria, who spent the past year traveling the US and Europe with the entertainer chronicling his life for a documentary. The documentary is set to be released around April, 2011 and his new CD, “ZONE” will be available 30Aug Read more on Last.fm. User-contributed text is available under the Creative Commons By-SA License; additional terms may apply.