Chris Pumphrey

Chris Pumphrey is a composer, arranger, bandleader, and musician well-known in the Baltimore area for his ability to not only span, but to fuse avant-garde elements with expansive melody and in-the-pocket rhythm. Long-awaited releases from The Mondawmen and the Chris Pumphrey Quintet will drop in autumn, 2026. 

Born and raised on a gentleman's farm in Harford County, he studied and performed music while working variously as a logger, pool builder, and contractor. He earned his degree in music composition from University of Maryland at Baltimore County, where he studied with Stuart Saunders Smith. 

Best known for his work with the Baltimore Afrobeat Society for which he transcribed and directed the music of Afrobeat star Fela Kuti, Chris was always involved in a wide range of musical collaborations and projects. Chris has written music for theatre groups Trixie Little, The Mobtown Players, and Fablevision and composed the finale music for the Great Halloween Lantern Parade in Patterson Park working with shadow puppet theatre group Nana Projects.
 

Highly virtuosic on both the alto saxophone and piano, Pumphrey has quietly written songs for guitar for over a decade and is developing a new group with his partner and wife Kristen Toedtman. Chris was featured in the City Paper's "Now Hear This" section: "You might know saxophonist Chris Pumphrey as the organizer behind the Baltimore Afrobeat Society, whose yearly big band blowouts are the stuff of Baltimore underground legend. Just as likely you know him as one of those guys in the city's left field jazz/improv universe who's just sort of hard to miss, whether it's a regular Out of Your Head outing or a collaboration with a fellow scene figure, with quintet Il Culo, Baltimare, the Mobtown Palyers, Trixie Little, or, finally, with his own sextet." - Michael Byrne.