My portfolio includes scoring, arrangement and composition work for video games, feature film and television. As a musician and producer I have released over forty albums of jazz, folk, electronic, punk and modern classical music. I am currently accepting new commissions.
Why Chris Schlarb?
The world is full of musicians, composers and producers. The hard part is matching the right person with the project they are best suited for.

Here is a quick example: if you want to approximate an orchestra of instruments with a single keyboard, I am probably not the right one for the job. My best work utilizes any number of unique, real world instruments including tabla, euphonium, mandolin, marimba and upright double bass. I thoroughly enjoy working with real instruments, in real spaces, with real musicians.

If your film, video game or album requires texture and atmospheric depth, unique or unusual live instrumentation, and thoughtful arrangement, I would love to hear from you. For the last decade I have explored the ambient, jazz, folk, electronic and modern classical genres as a member of both the American Composers Forum and ASCAP.

I specialize in taking small and medium sized budgets and turning them into expensive sounding recordings. I operate my own mobile recording studio and engineer most sessions, saving time and cost.

My work can be heard on this site and read about in the New York Times, All About Jazz, Time Out New York, Chicago Reader and Pitchfork.

Record Labels


Asthmatic Kitty


Sounds Are Active
Archives

title

Press Quotes

“Immersive… meticulous and controlled.”- New York Times

“Top 5 Jazz CD’s of 2008. Guitarist Chris Schlarb’s projects capture a form of emotional release that few avant-garde musicians can muster.”- National Public Radio

“sumptuous, richly textured… impressively coherent…”- Chicago Reader

“unorthodox, but it’s far from difficult: Much of it has a dreamy, pastoral mellifluousness.”- TimeOut New York

“an entirely original approach to What Game Music Can Be”- BoingBoing

“this is improvised music as art at its very best.”- All About Jazz

“a fairly well-known entity within the realm of indie rock and avant garde post-post-modern jazz.”- IGN

“Chris Schlarb’s Twilight & Ghost Stories is one of the most unique musical projects to come along in years… a monumental achievement.”- FFWD Weekly

“Top 10 Albums of 2007. An experiment in sound rather than a traditional album… a fascinating experience.”- All Music Guide

“40 minutes of avant-garde bliss.”- New York Observer

“Schlarb is a talented arranger, producer and all around master of ceremonies…”- Signal To Noise