Justin Chart is a Los Angeles-based alto saxophonist, composer, bandleader, and producer who has been active for over four decades, beginning in 1986. Known in West Coast jazz circles as The Blizzard for his electrifying hard bop style, Chart has released at least eighteen albums as a leader on labels including Iron Mountain Records, Palms Records, Decca Records, and Universal Music Group. His compositional approach is distinguished by a commitment to spontaneous creation, with all recorded performances captured as first takes without editing or overdubbing. Despite this improvisatory method, his pieces exhibit the structural sophistication and thematic coherence of carefully arranged compositions. Chart's albums include Night Heat, a ten-track session recorded with different sidemen across two live dates, and The Midnight People, praised for its mellifluous and enthralling soundscapes. On AllSolos, twelve of his compositions are featured, including Right On!, a piece built on an unusual thirteen-bar form, as well as Lickity Split, We Got Somethin Goin On, She Absorbed Him, With Passion And Wonder, Eros at Eventide, Prosper, Welcome to the Midst, Love On Lexington, In Turquoise Time, Grinder, and Scatter Good Seed in The Fields. Taken together, this substantial catalog reflects Chart's prolific output and his distinctive place in contemporary jazz as a composer who merges real-time improvisation with compositional intent.
