Lyell B. Clay Artist in Residence in Jazz Activities/Lecturer in Music, Director of the Jazz Ensemble
Director of the Williams Jazz Orchestra
Education
M.M. SUNY at Purchase College (2004)
Courses
MUS 105 / AFR 212 SEM
Jazz Theory and Improvisation I (not offered 2024/25)MUS 252 / AFR 242 LEC
Introduction to the Music of John Coltrane (not offered 2024/25)MUS 254 / AFR 254 SEM
Bebop: The (R)evolution of Modern Jazz (not offered 2024/25)Biography
Kris Allen is the Lyell B. Clay Artist in Residence in Jazz and Lecturer in Music at Williams and the director of the Williams jazz ensemble program. A native of the Hartford CT area and a protégé of the great Jackie McLean, Kris has forged a clear conceptual and aural identity as a saxophonist, composer, bandleader and recording artist. appearing on dozens of albums. His latest release as a leader, June, is his third critically acclaimed album for the Truth Revolution Recording Collective
“Allen, for all of his fluency in the language of jazz and deep knowledge of the music’s modern masters, is very much his own man with his own creative voice.”- WNPR.org
“Diverse and impassioned….Subtlety, surprise and a sense of urgency… Locating the profound within the familiar”- Downbeat Magazine
Kris has performed and/or recorded with Illinois Jacquet, Gerald Wilson, Andy Gonzales, Jimmy Greene, Helen Sung, Jonathan Barber, Winard Harper, Andy Laverne, the Mingus Dynasty, Avery Sharpe, Ike Sturm, Rogerio Boccato, Andy Jaffe, Kendrick Oliver’s New Life Orchestra, Noah Baerman, the Curtis Brothers and Mario Pavone among others. He has collaborated with dancers, poets, and visual artists, as well as musicians from across diverse genres. Kris’s work has been honored with numerous awards and commissions, including a Macdowell Artist’s Colony fellowship and the Connecticut Office of the Arts fellowship. He currently tours widely as the leader of his own quartet/quintet and as a member of the collaboratively led “Triangle Offense” trio with bassist Matt Dwonszyk and Jonathan Barber. Prior to his time at Williams, he served as a faculty member at Trinity College, the Hartt School, Southern Connecticut State University and the Greater Hartford Academy of the Performing Arts, and he has been a senior teaching artist for Litchfield Performing Arts since 2001. Kris is a Vandoren Artist and plays Vandoren mouthpieces, reeds and ligatures exclusively.
More information about Kris Allen
Photo Credit: Tre Davis (headshot)
