A sideman in Texas blues, jazz, funk, and rock bands for many years, guitarist Chris Duarte has earned his headliner status. Now touring with bassist John Jordan and drummer Jimmy Way as the Chris Duarte Group, Duarte draws on a wide range of musical influences—Jimi Hendrix, Stevie Ray Vaughan, John Coltrane, John McLaughlin—in crafting his hard-edged blues. The Chris Duarte Group offers a unique, composite style and is noted for playing long and ferocious sets.

“I just want to take in all these different sounds, put them all together, and then play what I hear in my head,” Duarte says. “I am just trying to make good music.”

The innovative blending of such a diverse range of musical expression on Duarte’s first two nationally released albums, Texas Sugar/Strat Magic and Tailspin Headwhack, led Dave Ranney of Blues Access to liken Duarte to Vaughan and Hendrix—not only in musical style, but also in terms of musical genius.