Chris Walker
Musician Class of 1986
Chris Walker played drums in a family gospel band until his father put an upside-down bass in his hands.
“I didn’t really have much choice in the matter,” Walker says. “He decided I was going to play bass.”
That was the instrument Walker took into his HSPVA audition, along with deep anxiety because at the time he couldn’t read music.
It didn’t matter. “Doc” Morgan, the jazz-program director, heard something special in Walker’s playing.
“I don’t know what else to say,” Walker says. “He easily could’ve decided I didn’t have what it took to be in that program. And that program has meant everything to me. Doc and the school gave me my career.”
Early on, that career pulled Walker in different directions. After leaving HSPVA, Walker studied in New York and hooked up with jazz legend Ornette Coleman in the late ’80s. He played on the composer and saxophonist’s 1988 album, “Virgin Beauty.” He also played bass and worked as band leader for R&B singer Regina Belle.
“It was a little odd because they were two different worlds,” he says. “But it was just music, so it was all a pleasure for me. And those two worlds didn’t collide until they went on tour at the same time.”
Walker stayed with Belle because she offered him the opportunity to sing, and he wanted to pursue a vocal career. And he did. Walker released a pair of solo albums in the early ’90s, one of which included “Take Time,” a Top 40 pop hit in 1992.
More recently, Walker has served as bassist and musical director for vocalist Al Jarreau. The latter job can be a complicated one, bridging wants and needs of the singer and the audience.
“You have to put a show together that’s entertaining for the people,” he says. “Artists can get up in their own head, and that’s good, but you consider what people want to hear as well. Al has some songs that he’s done for 40 years. Maybe he wants to take a break. But you remind him, ‘That’s the one that bought your house. You need to do that.’ You have to prepare the band, the arrangements, make sure the keys are correct. It can get pretty involved.”
Walker is also big on giving back. He’s music minister at the Abundant Life Cathedral. He’s working with the mayor’s office on fundraising efforts after last month’s floods. He launched DocFest, an annual concert featuring HSPVA alumni that serves as both a tribute to his mentor Morgan and a fundraiser for a scholarship Morgan started at New York’s New School for Jazz and Contemporary Music. And in September, he’ll bring Jarreau to HSPVA for a fundraising concert for the school.
“I’ve always preferred giving,” Walker says. “I got so much from that program. And I’m blessed. So really what I want to do is give back.”