Chris Harford
Chris Harford is an American singer, songwriter, guitarist and painter. The New Yorker described him as "...A singer, guitarist, and songwriter who rose through the local club scene in the nineteen-eighties, Harford operates in the free zone outside rock's usual categories. He has a foot in country, a hand in seventies rock, a toe in folk, a finger in post-punk. With his gruff but plaintive voice and his fondness for muddied-up guitars, he sometimes recalls Neil Young...". And according to National Public Radio, his music "has been described as 'beautiful, heart-rending and soulful,' as well as 'dark, rocking and dangerous'".
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Channel Collective is a collaborative music project led by drummer Justin Leigh and multi-instrumentalist Jon Thompson. The Collective brings together distinctive voices from the Philadelphia jazz scene and beyond, creating a platform for professional musicians to engage in spontaneous, unfiltered improvisation. By embracing a free-flowing approach with little to no prior knowledge of one another or the material, Channel Collective fosters organic, boundary-pushing music-making that explores new sonic landscapes.
Their latest session has resulted in the upcoming album, Margate Dreamland, set to release on January 31 on Soul Selects Records. This project features a remarkable collaboration with singer-songwriter and visual artist Chris Harford (Band of Changes), as well as multi-instrumentalist Dion Paci, whose impressive resume includes work with Calvin Weston, John Medeski, Billy Martin, and Bernie Worrell. Together, the ensemble has crafted a collection of compositions that are unexpected, otherworldly, and telepathic—delivering fresh, exciting, and deeply immersive instrumental passages with nods to jazz dub and experimental music.
Jon Thompson and Justin Leigh are accomplished musicians who have worked with celebrated artists such as Bakithi Kumalo, John Swana, and Matt Davis’s Aerial Photograph. Both have led their own projects and contributed to numerous full-length albums, solidifying their reputations as versatile, innovative creators within the Philadelphia music community and beyond.
Recorded by engineer Zac Spangler, the songs on Margate Dreamland were recorded in an attic studio in the beach town of Margate, NJ, infusing the album with a sense of intimacy and creativity born of its unique setting. The album title pays homage to the famous amusement park Dreamland, Margate in Margate’s sister city, Margate, UK, with song titles inspired by the rides in the park. Mixed by Chris Harford and Michael Cumming at Hopewell, New Jersey’s Soul Selects Studio Margate Dreamland invites listeners to step into a world of improvisational brilliance and collaborative artistry—a testament to the vibrant creativity emerging from the greater Philadelphia area’s thriving jazz scene
Track List
Up Up and Away
High Dive
Galllopers
Chair-o-Plane
Scenic Stage
Spin Me
Tiina Turner’s Head
Waltzer
Chris Harford solo record produced and arranged by Michael Melchiondo, mixed by Andrew Weiss and mastered by Emily Lazar. Featuring eight tracks recorded at New Hope’s famed Fabulous Fountainhead in 2005 with Chris Harford on Guitars, Bass, Keys and Vocals; Dean Ween on Drums, Guitars and Vocals; Gene Ween Backing Vocals on “Teach Me;” Marc Muller on Pedal Steel on “To Understand You;” and George Flayer on Violin on “The Glider to the Queen.”
Track Listing
What We Do Not Know
This Moment is All We’ve Got
I Don’t Need You Anymore
Pain is Good
Render Me Still
Teach Me
To Understand You
The Glider to the Queen