Chris Pattishall

Over the last ten years pianist, composer, and educator Chris Pattishall has honed his expansive, forward-looking musical vision across a wide range of styles and formats, distinguishing himself as a musician with a meticulous sense of detail, wide stylistic breadth, abundance of empathy, and inclination towards the surreal.

Pattishall released his debut album Zodiac - a reimagining of the Zodiac Suite by pioneering pianist/composer Mary Lou Williams - to critical acclaim in 2021. A multimedia presentation of the suite featuring projections by visual artist Kim Alpert premiered at Duke University in fall 2021. Pattishall is currently an Artist In Residence at Duke where his year long focus is on the music and community impact of Mary Lou Williams.

Pattishall performs regularly with South African vocalist Vuyo Sotashe. Their intimate performances cover a remarkable range of music from the American songbook to Xhosa hymns to Randy Newman to Laura Mvula. The duo performed a sold out show at Harlem Stage in the fall of 2021 and are preparing both the release of their first single and a recording session in the spring of 2022.

An ongoing investigation into the rich jazz piano legacy paired with a study of experimental electronic music production techniques will culminate in an upcoming solo album. Pattishall is actively working on this project and is preparing to record in 2022. 

Fictions - a tango-inspired chamber suite based on the short stories of Jorge Luis Borges - was initially premiered in 2016. It blends tango, jazz, 20th century classical, and folk elements in a set of musical miniatures. Pattishall previously partnered with Fractured Atlas to support Fictions. An ongoing project, Pattishall continues to compose new movements for the suite and is eager to record this work. 

Pattishall aims to partner with Fractured Atlas on all of his creative projects, which will allow him to raise funds to further his artistic vision in a variety of formats, including solo piano, electronic music production, duo with vocalist Vuyo Sotashe, piano trio, quintet, and large ensemble configurations.