If you were lucky enough to attending the Main Street Jazz Festival in Columbia, SC, in the early 1990s, you likely heard a young Christ Potter blow you away on the saxophone.
Potter, born in 1971 and a graduate of Dreher High School, was a jazz sax prodigy. At the age of 15, "Piano Jazz" host Marian McPartland told Potter's dad that he was ready to tour. By 19, he was playing for bebop master Red Rodney, which in the jazz world would make Potter the grandson of Charlie Parker.
Today, Potter — who headlined the first ColaJazz Fest — is an international star. He tours the world as soloist, bandleader, arranger, and composer. In 2008, the DownBeat Reader's Poll ranked him as a top tenor saxophonist, second only to the legendary Sonny Rollins.
This has been Rapp on Jazz, a co-production of the ColaJazz Foundation and SC Public Radio. Support for this program is made possible in part by Fox Music House of Columbia and Charleston.