Chris Maresh Quartet

Chris Maresh leads his quartet at Monks Jazz Club on Wednesday, September 9, 2026. The show is presented by the Austin Jazz Society, and it's a live taping and listening-room concert, so it's the kind of night where you're meant to sit and listen rather than chat over the music.

Maresh is a bassist and composer who's been a fixture in the Austin scene for a long time. Born in Beaumont and raised in San Antonio, he started his professional career here in 1984. He earned his degree in applied double bass performance with an emphasis in jazz from the University of Texas at Austin in 1990, and since then he's played on more than 200 albums. He's recorded and performed with Eric Johnson, Mike Stern, Ellis Marsalis, Johnny Nicholas, Pinetop Perkins, and Marcia Ball, and has also played with the Austin Symphony.

His work with Eric Johnson and the side project Alien Love Child earned the composition "Rain" a Grammy nomination for Best Pop Instrumental Performance in 2002. That same year, he was named Bass Player of the Year at the Austin Chronicle Music Awards during SXSW, and he took home the same award again in 2005 and 2006. He's released two solo albums, Tomorrow and Side Street, and his playing can be heard on soundtracks for Spy Kids 2, Once Upon a Time in Mexico, and Sliding Doors.

For this date, he's bringing in a full quartet: Mitch Watkins on guitar, Andy Langham on piano, and Mike Gordon on drums. The show starts at 7:30 PM at Monks Jazz Club, 310 E. St. Elmo Road, Austin, TX 78745.