Nashville-based jazz composer, bassist, and 2020 graduate of the New England Conservatory Chris Mondak has studied with jazz legends Cecil McBee, Dave Holland, and Bob Moses, and has performed with musicians such as Wycliffe Gordon, Dave Douglas, Shelly Berg, Marvin Stamm, Jeff Hamilton, and Jesus Molina.
With an aggressive bass style reminiscent of Mingus, Chris is a past member of the Jazz Band of America, he has toured extensively in the U.S., and has performed in Australia, Mexico, and Panama, as well as having toured twice throughout China as a member of the Nextgen Jazz Quartet. In 2019, Chris and Nextgen performed at the Hengqin Cup Jazz Competition in Zhuhai, China, where Chris's composition "Always Smiling" received 1st place as the festival's top original composition. In 2023, Chris's composition "Begetting" was a semi-finalist in Italy's 7 Virtual Jazz Club composition and video performance competition.
Chris's energetic hard-bop compositions and performances are on full display on his 2019 Eternal Youth, a CD that has amassed radio play on some 400+ stations, including spins on the Jazz Network, Jazz After Hours, and Jazz Happening Now. Says Blurtonline: "Opener 'Voyage Maid' wastes no time in showing us the goods Chris has in store for us. His virtuosity is a wonder to behold as are his compositional skills which soar to lofty heights throughout the album." Chris's 2022 release Glass Spheres spent multiple weeks on the Jazz Week top 100, and reached #17 on the NACC chart. All About Jazz referred to Glass Spheres as "an intriguing and absorbing selection of originals, and to Chris as "one of the talented young lions of the jazz world today." Chris's newest CD, Blank with Colour, is scheduled to be released by Summit Records in October of this year.
