Chris Joris is a Belgian

Belgium

Belgium , officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a federal state in Western Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the EU's headquarters, and those of several other major international organisations such as NATO.Belgium is also a member of, or affiliated to, many...

 jazz

Jazz

Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...

 percussionist, pianist

Pianist

A pianist is a musician who plays the piano. A professional pianist can perform solo pieces, play with an ensemble or orchestra, or accompany one or more singers, solo instrumentalists, or other performers.-Choice of genres:...

 and composer

Composer

A composer is a person who creates music, either by musical notation or oral tradition, for interpretation and performance, or through direct manipulation of sonic material through electronic media...

. He is the son of Jan Joris, an opera singer. Joris joined Aksak Maboul

Aksak Maboul

Aksak Maboul were a Belgian avant-rock band founded in 1977 by Marc Hollander and Vincent Kenis. They made two studio albums, Onze Danses Pour Combattre la Migraine and Un Peu de l'Âme des Bandits , the last one with ex-Henry Cow members Chris Cutler and Fred Frith...

 in 1977, appeared on their first album but left the group later that year. In the mid 1990s, he formed The Chris Joris Experience, a jazz band

Musical ensemble

A musical ensemble is a group of people who perform instrumental or vocal music. In classical music, trios or quartets either blend the sounds of musical instrument families or group together instruments from the same instrument family, such as string ensembles or wind ensembles...

 with Sam Versweyveld (trumpet

Trumpet

The trumpet is the musical instrument with the highest register in the brass family. Trumpets are among the oldest musical instruments, dating back to at least 1500 BCE. They are played by blowing air through closed lips, producing a "buzzing" sound which starts a standing wave vibration in the air...

), Bart Defoort (saxophone

Saxophone

The saxophone is a conical-bore transposing musical instrument that is a member of the woodwind family. Saxophones are usually made of brass and played with a single-reed mouthpiece similar to that of the clarinet. The saxophone was invented by the Belgian instrument maker Adolphe Sax in 1846...

), Ernst Vranckx (piano

Piano

The piano is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. It is one of the most popular instruments in the world. Widely used in classical and jazz music for solo performances, ensemble use, chamber music and accompaniment, the piano is also very popular as an aid to composing and rehearsal...

) and Chris Mentens (acoustic bass

Double bass

The double bass, also called the string bass, upright bass, standup bass or contrabass, is the largest and lowest-pitched bowed string instrument in the modern symphony orchestra, with strings usually tuned to E1, A1, D2 and G2...

). He won the 1998 Belgian Golden Django

Golden Django

The Golden Django, named after guitarist Django Reinhardt, is an award for jazz musicians in Europe. The trophy is a creation of the French painter Raymond Moretti. It was first introduced in France , then in Belgium , in Sweden and Italy and finally in Denmark .-Belgian palmares:Since 1995,...

 for best Flemish

Flemish people

The Flemings or Flemish are the Dutch-speaking inhabitants of Belgium, where they are mostly found in the northern region of Flanders. They are one of two principal cultural-linguistic groups in Belgium, the other being the French-speaking Walloons...

 artist

Artist

An artist is a person engaged in one or more of any of a broad spectrum of activities related to creating art, practicing the arts and/or demonstrating an art. The common usage in both everyday speech and academic discourse is a practitioner in the visual arts only...

.

Recordings

In October 2007 Joris released Rainbow Country on the Belgium De Werf label. The CD features: Bob Stewart: tuba, compo's
Eric Person

Eric Person

Eric Person is an American alto and soprano saxophone player and leader of Meta-Four and Metamorphosis. Since coming to New York City in 1982, Person has performed with a who's who list of legends on the jazz and rock scene...

: alto- et soprano sax, flute, compo's
Baba Sissoko

Baba Sissoko

Baba Sissoko is a musician and vocalist. Sissoko is a master of the talking drums...

: tama, tamani, ngoni, vocals, compo's
Fabian Fiorini: piano
Reggie Washington: electric bass, compo
Chris Mentens: double bass
Junior Mthombeni: congas, udu, percussion, voice
Chris Joris: timba, cymbals, djembé, congas, steeldrum, likembé, small percussion, compo's, leader