Daily Dose Of Jazz…

Chris Flory was born November 13, 1953 in New York City, New York and began playing guitar in his early teens. Around that time he heard his first jazz album, Forest Flower by Charles Lloyd. He was influenced by seeing live performances of Jimi Hendrix, B. B. King, and Rahsaan Roland Kirk during the late 1960s. Through his friend Scott Hamilton he met musicians and while babysitting the children of Gil Evans he listened to albums by Nat King Cole, Miles Davis, Charlie Parker, and Lester Young. His music has been inspired by Charlie Parker, Charlie Christian, T-Bone Walker.

In his early teens Flory played in rock bands but three years later had a couple jazz lessons with guitarist Tiny Grimes. In the early 1970s he studied at Hobart College, and performed with Hamilton intermittently from 1975 through the early 1990s. He began to record his own albums as a leader after Hamilton’s quintet broke up.

From 1977 to 1983 Chris played in the Benny Goodman Sextet, then worked with Ruby Braff, Judy Carmichael, Roy Eldridge, Illinois Jacquet, Buddy Tate, Bob Wilber, Milt Hinton, Hank Jones, Duke Robillard, and Maxine Sullivan.

Guitarist Chris Flory, who has recorde six albums as a leader and as a sideman twenty-eight, continues to perform and record.

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