Composer Chris Becker lives and works in New York City composing, arranging and recording music for a wide variety of solo and collaborative projects. He has composed music for dance, mixed-media installations and film. His music is a combination of (but not limited to) rock and roll language, indigenous rhythms from Africa, Brazil and Colombia and music concrete. It is performed by some of the finest rock, jazz, classical and avant-garde musicians in New York and New Orleans.
His recent work includes composing music for choreographer/director Rachel Cohen, including 16 individual pieces for her dance/theater work If The Shoe Fits (2005). New York Times critic John Rockwell called the work "...lavish and fully realized..." and included If The Shoe Fits in his year end list of the best New York City dance events of 2005. In October 2006, If The Shoe Fits and Recidivistas - another Cohen work scored by Becker - were presented at The World Financial Center.
In November 2006 Becker released his CD Saints & Devils - a suite of 10 tracks inspired by songs, stories and icons of the deep South. Composed, recorded and mixed by Becker and mastered less than two weeks before hurricane Katrina struck the Gulf Coast, Saints & Devils includes performances by musicians from New York City and New Orleans, including guitarist Lynn Wright, the Reverend Vince Anderson and long time music director for Dr. John trumpeter Charlie Miller. In a review of Saints & Devils Southern Performer Magazine wrote: "There is a distinct chaotic, New Orleans sound on the album, ranging from the feel of Preservation Hall to the street parades of Mardi Gras...The nebulous thread of voodoo is also sewn throughout the songs. The Creole vernacular of that city is Becker's langue de choix, not necessarily in speech, but in feel. The entire album is a melting pot of aural culture, identifiable to anyone who has had the pleasure of visiting that bewitched and enchanted city."
Becker's current projects include continued collaborations with choreographer Rachel Cohen and members of her company Racoco Productions. He also directs a trio of himself on laptop (running Ableton Live software), Lynn Wright on guitar and Lewis 'Flip' Barnes on trumpet. This trio will be performing throughout the summer and fall of 2006 in New York City collaborating with dancers, film makers and other musicians.
Becker has received grants from Meet The Composer, The Louisiana Division of the Arts and The American Society of Composers and Publishers (ASCAP).