Chris Allard

Biography

Chris Allard is primarily a contemporary jazz guitarist, but is at home in a variety of genres. As a freelance musician he has performed at major festivals and venues including the Royal Albert Hall, the Pyramids and Great Sphinx in Cairo, the Barbican, Montreux Jazz Festival, Nuremberg Festival, the O2 Arena London, Midem Festival (Cannes), Friends of Jordan Festival, The Queen Elizabeth Hall, Beiteddine Arts Festival (Lebanon), Edinburgh Festival, Emirates Palace Auditorium (Abu Dhabi), Duoro Jazz Festival (Portugal), Spring of Culture Festival (Bahrain), the BBC Proms in Hyde Park, the Royal Festival Hall. 

He has played live on TV and radio, and appeared on numerous albums.

Chris has performed/recorded with Jacqui Dankworth, Charlie Wood, Gwyneth Herbert, Dame Cleo Laine, Sir John Dankworth, Omar Kamal, Russel Watson, Jamie Cullum, Mike Walker, Lea Salonga, Gwilym Simcock, the BBC Big Band, Ken Peplowski, James Morrison, amongst others.

He leads his own group, and the Chris Allard Band has performed at festivals and venues in the UK and Europe including the International Guitar Festival, Ronnie Scott’s, Bonington Theatre, Maison Musique Torino Italy, the Pizza Express Jazz Club Soho, London, and has had press and radio-play as far afield as Portugal and Los Angeles. Chris’s most recent album Invisible Landscape was his fourth album as a bandleader, and received excellent reviews.

Reviews

‘a non-cliched linear improviser of great originality and talent…an excellent recording of modern music full of variety, intensity and interest.’ Jazzviews

★★★★ Guitarist Magazine

‘In an age of instant downloads and short attention spans, ‘Invisible Landscape’ is a brave album built on artistic integrity, framed by Allard’s inventive musical vision and realized by the band’s technical and improvisational excellence’ ★★★★ Get Ready to Rock

“Full-blooded solos...right on the money” Jazzwise

“Great playing...beautiful...a real guitar player” Pat Martino

www.chrisallard.co.uk