Chris Cheek is among the cream of a young new crop of jazz musicians who came of age in New York during the 1990s. Raised in St. Louis, the tenor and soprano saxophonist attended Webster University before relocating to the Berklee College of Music in Boston. There he studied with Joe Viola, Hal Crook, and Herb Pomeroy, among others. In 1992 he made the move to New York, and has since worked with Paul Motian's Electric Bebop Band, Guillermo Klein's Los Guachos, Seamus Blake's Bloomdaddies, Stephan Crump, and Jen Chapin. His appearance on pianist David Berkman's Communication Theory, alongside fellow saxophonists Steve Wilson and Sam Newsome, further cemented his reputation as a first-tier player. As a leader, Cheek records for the groundbreaking Fresh Sound label. His 1997 debut, I Wish I Knew, was a standards session featuring guitar whiz Kurt Rosenwinkel. His second album, an all-original date titled A Girl Named Joe, followed in 1998. Vine was released in 2000. ~ David R. Adler