CHRIS SMITH

​Chris has released four albums recorded with his band  with mostly original material inspired by jazz, blues,rock and soul music.Chris’ family travelled and lived in the Far East before returning to England where Chris was born.The family then moved to Canada and thats when the music took hold.Chris’ older brother Peter was a guitar player and his band rehearsed in the family’s basement where Chris would often sit and listen in awe. Ottawa was a hot bed of live music where so many great bands were playing the circuit between Ottawa and Hull and beyond.Live music was a cultural force to be reckoned with and Chris eventually left Ottawa to study jazz at Humber College.He left Humber to play in The Graduates,an original R&B, pop band made up of Humber non-grads that played the clubs on the Ontario circuit. After a few years the Graduates broke up and Chris played in Yorkville,sometimes on the street to keep the chops up.Regatta was the next chapter in the journey,a band that played the bars doing their own material mixed up with some covers to keep playing.Regatta was essentially Matthew Gerrard and Chris until Greg Critchley became the third man.Regatta was blessed with additional players including Marco Luciani on keys and Sil Samone on guitar.Regatta,in the early stages won the Q107 Homegrown in 1985 and things just kept on movin’up.Regatta broke up in the Nineties and Chris’ solo project was born…Four albums of original material with numerous nominations for The Canadian Smooth Jazz Awards has kept Chris busy playing small and large venues since then.