BORN IN NEW YORK IN 1976, CHRIS BERGSON BEGAN BY STUDYING JAZZ GUITAR WHILE LISTENING TO OLD RECORDS BY THELONIOUS MONK, MILES DAVIS, HOWLIN' WOLF, AND MUDDY WATERS, LEARNING BLUES SCALES IN ORDER TO REPRODUCE THE RIFFS OF MIKE BLOOMFIELD. AFTER MOVING TO BOSTON IN THE EARLY 1990S, HE STARTED PLAYING IN LOCAL ROCK BANDS. UPON RETURNING TO NEW YORK, HE DEEPENED HIS JAZZ STUDIES WHILE ATTENDING THE MANHATTAN SCHOOL OF MUSIC AND BEGAN PERFORMING IN THE CITY'S JAZZ CLUBS. HE RECORDED HIS FIRST ALBUM IN 1997, AND IN 2002 HE WAS SELECTED AS A JAZZ AMBASSADOR FOR THE UNITED STATES BY THE JOHN F. KENNEDY CENTER, A ROLE THAT LED HIM ON A TOUR OF SEVERAL AFRICAN COUNTRIES. IN 2003, HE RECORDED THE ALBUM "BLUES" AND FULLY COMMITTED HIMSELF TO THE GENRE, EVENTUALLY BECOMING NEW YORK CITY'S MOST ACTIVE BLUES MUSICIAN AND, WITH NO DOUBT, ONE OF ITS MOST GIFTED ARTISTS. ONE OF HIS MOST ACCLAIMED ALBUMS, "FALL CHANGES" (2007), WAS RECORDED AT LEVON HELM'S STUDIOS IN WOODSTOCK, MARKING THE BEGINNING OF BERGSON'S LONG ASSOCIATION WITH HELM'S MUSICAL CIRCLE IN THE YEARS THAT FOLLOWED. IN 2013, HE BEGAN A PROFESSIONAL COLLABORATION WITH SOUL SINGER ELLIS HOOKS, AND THE TWO SPENT THE FOLLOWING YEARS RECORDING AND PERFORMING TOGETHER.
THIS BRIEF OVERVIEW OF BERGSON'S CAREER ONLY OFFERS A RUDIMENTARY GLIMPSE INTO THE JOURNEY OF A TRULY MASTERFUL ARTIST, A MUSICIAN OF REMARKABLE TALENT AND AN UNPREDICTABLE CREATIVE SPIRIT, WHOSE GUITAR STYLE IS AS SURPRISING AS IT IS FLAWLESSLY EXECUTED. A SINGER AND SONGWRITER AS WELL, HIS ALBUMS ARE INEXHAUSTIBLE SOURCES OF IMAGINATION AND INTERPRETIVE MAGIC. HIS ELEGANT, WARM, AND DIGNIFIED RIFFS PROVIDE THE PERFECT FOUNDATION FOR SONGS IMBUED WITH A UNIQUE AND DEEPLY EMOTIONAL CHARACTER. CHRIS BERGSON HAS RECENTLY RELEASED HIS LATEST ALBUM, "EAST RIVER BLUES", REAFFIRMING THAT THE BLUES HE PLAYS POSSESSES THE SAME SEDUCTION AND SPELLBINDING POWER AS THE GENRE'S GREATEST MASTERS. SUPPORTED ONLY BY BASS AND DRUMS, HE HAS CREATED A TRULY MAGNIFICENT ALBUM.