Chris Greene A saxophonist, evanstonian, suburban dad

During our interview, I posed the question to Chris Greene: 'Who are you?' Unfolding the layers of his identity, his response was — a lifelong Evanstonian, an African American, a saxophonist, composer, jazz musician, husband and father.

Chris Greene, born Christopher Alexander Greene, recently celebrated his 50th birthday. He started his musical journey at the young age of ten, playing saxophone at Washington Elementary School. In Chute, he was in a concert and stage band, eventually moving into the jazz band and the Wind Ensemble at ETHS. As a junior in high school, he started performing with the local bands.

Eventually, Chris Greene pursued his career at Indiana University, Bloomington, where he was part of the Jazz Studies program, guided by distinguished professors - David Baker and Thomas Walsh.

In 1994, Chris Greene returned to Chicago and has been actively involved in Evanston's music scene ever since. In 2005, he formed the Chris Greene Quartet, performing not only in his hometown but also on stages beyond. Evanston SPACE, an intimate live music concert hall, became his preferred venue for performances.

"That's probably my all-time favorite venue because we've recorded a couple of albums there. It's a fun place to play. It's a great place to see a show."

Last year, the Chris Greene Quartet was voted “Best Jazz Ensemble” in the Chicago Reader 2022 Best of Chicago Reader's Poll. This year, Chris Greene was honored with the Mayor's Award for the Arts, recognizing his impactful contributions to Evanston's rich artistic tapestry.

"(Greene's) own origin story is a testament to Evanston's role as a creative hub for young musicians," said Mayor Daniel Biss in his speech at the Bright Night for the Arts event on November 15, 2023.

For the past several years, Greene has been helping historian Morris “Dino” Robinson Jr. archive records of prominent local Black musicians at the Shorefront Legacy Center.

Outside his musical life, Greene calls himself a suburban dad. During the winter, when the performance schedule eases up, he spends time with his family, reads books and watches movies. Additionally, three days a week, he works at Saville flower shop, delivering bouquets to the local Evanstonians.

I'm trying to read about various subjects of interest. Like film for instance. I mean, I'm right now finishing up this book, called "Leave the gun, Take the Cannoli." It's about the making of the Godfather movie - one of my favorite movies.

Greene said that, when he is not performing, he spends his time taking care of his twelve-year-old son - making sure he gets in time to piano and percussion lessons, does his homework and gets to school without forgetting his water bottle.

"After (my wife) had a baby, she went back to work... I was pretty much daddy daycare, running around the stroller, and still, being a musician and taking meetings and sending out press promotional things," Greene said. "But I had a little assistant with me. So pretty much it has been me and him."

In the moment of leisure, Greene, however, returns to his passion. His collection of vinyl records serves as a testament to his deep and enduring connection with the world of music.

"I'm listening to music that I enjoy, that inspires me, I listen to something that I need to learn or listen to something that I'm studying, that's gonna get me better," Greene said.

Often, Greene's leisure time intertwines with music. He said most ideas come to him from the movies that he used to watch as a kid or "a song that (he has) heard a million times, but (he will) hear it in a different way."

"Really good ideas come when you are doing something else, it has nothing to do with music. I can sit down at the piano and try to come up with something and nothing will happen. And then I'll be out with my family, having a good time, and then all sudden, this great idea will pop into my head," Greene said.

"Now that I'm entering my 50s, I guess I find myself in a couple of different positions," Greene said. "I find myself a lot smarter about how I do things. But I guess, because of that, I find myself becoming a lot more younger musician."

Greene said he is inspired by the power of music and the variety of interpretations among his audience. "A couple of years ago, at Winter's Jazz Club, there was a guy in the back of the club holding his phone and I'm thinking he's filming us," Greene said. After the performance, the guy revealed he was on the phone with his brother, showing him the performance.

He told Greene, "I'm going through some family drama right now with my brother. We are fighting all the time. And I said to him, look, if these guys can play this beautiful music together, you and I can stop fighting for 15 minutes."

"He was moved enough to call his brother and try to fix his relationship with his brother," said Greene. "It's amazing that people come to me, and different people can hear different things."

Greene points out that performers often overlook the fact that an average person may not be familiar with the intricacies of the performance. The majority of the audience consists of regular individuals who simply happened to wander into the venue. "I love when musicians come in and see us play, but I'm not necessarily performing for them," Greene said. "I'm performing for whoever comes to see us."

"It's the special people that I've admired - who can take that nerdy stuff, and somehow convince the average person... Even if they don't necessarily know about the intricacies of what went on to make this particular song, they can still feel it, they can feel when something's of quality, or they can feel moved by it," Greene said.

Both as a musician and a local resident, Greene is an integral part of the community. "Even if I'm in some small way helping to revitalize or bring life to a music scene here in Evanston, I'd like to be a part of it."

In the future, he would love to see more venues for performances. "I think people do want to go out and see live music, especially now that everything's open and things are somewhat back to normal," Greene said.

At the end of this interview, Chris Greene said, "I'm always trying to be better when I'm doing something - be a better musician, be a better band leader, better collaborator, better sideman, better dad, husband, friend."