Daily Dose Of Jazz…

Christopher Burnett was born in Olathe, Kansas on November 2, 1955 and grew up in a military family that moved often before settling in the Kansas City area. He was exposed to music growing up as his mother introduced him to the piano and he was a member of the youth choir at his church. He took up saxophone and clarinet in his school band. After high school, he enlisted in the U.S. Army Music Program where he performed and pursued higher education, studying at the Armed Forces School of Music, Webster University, Missouri’s Columbia College, Berklee College of Music, and American University.

Spending 22 years in the military, Chris rose to the rank of 1st Sergeant in the position of Enlisted Bandleader, staff and faculty assignment at the Armed Forces School of Music, and the leading Chief Petty Officer of the NATO Band in Naples, Italy. He served as NATO Ceremonial Band Conductor, directed the jazz band, played the lead alto saxophone chair with the West Point Military Academy Band’s Jazz Knights, and a featured soloist with the Hof Symphony Orchestra in Germany.

After leaving the military Burnett continued to teach, holding the position of director of the jazz ensemble program and adjunct lecturer at Missouri University of Science and Technology, formerly University of Missouri-Rolla, where he worked as an Adjunct Lecturer for a decade.

He has performed with artists like Bobby Watson, Will Matthews, Marcus Hampton, Ahmed Alaadeen, and many more. Burnett is the Founder and Artistic Director of KC Area Youth Jazz and along with colleagues Erica Lindsay and Sumi Tonooka is a co-founder of the large independent recording label, Artists Recording Collective.

He has held residencies at the historic Drum Room and the Black Dolphin in Kansas City, and appeared as a guest artist and clinician for the Northwest Missouri State Jazz Festival. He released his debut album as a leader, Time Flies in 2013, Firebird in 2014, in 2021 The Standards, Vol. 1, and Live at The Drum Room in Kansas City in 2022.

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