Hunter Diamond is a creative woodwind and sound artist living and performing in Chicago. A mixture of conceptual, composed, and improvised performances keep him fully embedded in the Chicago creative arts community. In 2021 Hunter founded Curio Records which serves as the primary outlet for his recorded projects.

Diamond is currently in post-production on a new double-album from his project Black Diamond (co-led since 2011 with saxophonist Artie Black) to be released by the Helsinki label We Jazz, and an album of new collaborative work with artist Allen Moore.

Diamond performs with several groups of his own: Black Diamond (co-led with saxophonist Artie Black), the Hunter Diamond Quartet, Metal and Wood, Herbsaint (New Orleans traditional), and Strange Frontiers: sonifying the poetry of his father Eric Diamond. For more information on these, please visit the Active Projects page. Diamond frequently contributes to collaborative work, often bringing a one-man-orchestral sound to projects with poet Marvin Tate, storyteller Sam Lewis, sound artist Allen Moore, movement artist Irene Hsiao, vocalist Ana Everling, singer/songwriter Hannah Frances, and the Wonder Wagon.

After releasing his first album with Black Diamond in 2017, Diamond received a fellowship from the Luminarts Foundation. With an initial award and continued grant support, Luminarts has made possible many of Hunter’s artistic goals including touring with Black Diamond, his multi-media project “MASKS,” and a double-album release with We Jazz Records (Helsinki).

In 2018, Black Diamond completed a month-long performance residency at The Whistler, leading to their second release “Chant”(2019) on Shifting Paradigm records.

In 2019, Diamond was an artist in residence at the Atlantic Center for the Arts, studying composition and improvisation with flautist/composer Nicole Mitchell. Many pieces were conceived and created during this time, most of which were then debuted at Chicago’s beloved Logan Square venue The Whistler in September 2019 during a month long performance/recording residency.

In 2020 Diamond took his long stand group Black Diamond in a new direction with the release of “A Held Space” (Woolgathering Records), featuring the duo of Black and Diamond on a multitude of woodwind and percussion instruments to form a collage of improvised song forms.

With six albums finished albums waiting for release, Diamond founded Curio Records in 2021. Curio is an independent label that resists the fruitless trappings of the contemporary music business by bypassing streaming platforms and selling music directly from artist to listener. Diamond has released seven albums through Curio: his debut solo record Reflective Nostalgia (a site-specific solo saxophone album captured in the coastal woods of northern Florida) and the Metal and Wood series (a collection of improvised drum duets with five different drummers in Chicago and New Orleans).

Diamond makes regular visits to New Orleans, and collaborates with some of the city’s most creative musicians including James Singleton, Helen Gillet, Aurora Nealand, Justin Peake, Jeff Albert, and Mikel Patrick Avery.

In addition to an active performance and teaching schedule, Diamond has been a producer at Elastic Arts Foundation, a membership committee member at Experimental Sound Studio, 2022 curator of the 3-on-3 series at Constellation, a staff member at the Pitchfork Music Festival, and a volunteer graphic designer with the Chicago Alliance Against Racism and Political Repression.

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2008-2016

Hunter has been performing since the age of 13. Growing up in the diverse music scene of Gainesville, FL., Hunter began playing active roles in groups of many genres. Throughout his time spent in Gainesville, Hunter flourished in the Ska, Reggae, Hip-Hop, Folk, Rock, Jazz, and Afro-Beat sectors of the local music landscape.

Attending the illustrious Indiana University on scholarship in 2008, Hunter was exposed to and involved in many different musical projects and endeavors. While studying with the legendary Dr. David Baker, Tom Walsh, and the entire highly-esteemed Jazz faculty at IU, Hunter performed, toured, and recorded with The Latin Jazz Collective under the direction of seven-time Grammy Nominee Michael Spiro. Hunter also performed and toured with the IU Soul Revue under the direction of saxophonist Fareed Mahluli. Hunter became a regularly working saxophonist and performer with many  university grown groups including: The Main Squeeze, El Fuego Lento, The Media Noche Trio, The Hunter Diamond/Ryan Knudsen Sextet, Mixtedo Sonido, The Black-Diamond Quartet, and The Hunter Diamond Quintet.

The Hunter Diamond/Ryan Knudsen sextet was awarded first runner-up in the 2011 Indiana University Latin American Music Recording Competition. In April 2012, Hunter was selected to perform in the Indiana University Presidential Concert with seven-time Grammy winner Bob Hurst,  two-time Grammy winner Peter Erskine, five-time Grammy winner Randy Brecker, and Grammy nominee Alan Pasqua. Upon graduation, Hunter was nominated by the Jazz Faculty for a Performer’s Certificate which he received after a third round performance in front of a host of Indiana University Jacobs School of Music Faculty members.

After graduating Indiana University in 2012, Hunter toured North America as a featured performer with the MediaNoche Trio, culminating with a performance at the famed Catalina Club in Los Angeles as part of their on-going Young Artists Jazz Series.

Hunter was then hired by Celebrity Cruise Lines as a saxophonist, flautist, clarinetist, and musical director in the Celebrity Orchestra. During his contract on the Celebrity Equinox, Hunter established a strong working relationship with Origin Recording Artist Les Demerle (former drummer of the Harry James Orchestra), regularly playing with Les’ Quartet and arranging a Cannonball Adderly/Nancy Wilson tribute concert which was performed in August of 2013.

During 2014, Hunter spent the spring touring with The Sammy Figueroa Grammy Experience Band aboard the Norwegian Getaway. After attending the prestigious Ravinia Stean’s Music Institute at the invitation of distinguished professor and NEA Jazz Master David Baker, Hunter moved to Chicago to attend DePaul University’s Jazz Studies Program as a master’s student under the direction of department head Dana Hall and saxophonist Scott Burns. In October 2014, Hunter returned to Florida at the invitation of Les Demerle to be a featured artist at the 2014 Amelia Island Jazz Festival alongside DeMerle, Randy Brecker, and Tony Monaco.

After only a few months in Chicago, Hunter strongly established himself alongside many of the great working musicians in the city. As a multiple woodwinds player, he has performed in The Mercury Theater’s productions of Avenue Q(2014), The Christmas Schooner(2014), The Addams Family(2015), Awkward Pause Theater’s production of Urinetown: The Musical(2014), St. Viator High School's Bye Bye Birdie(2017), and North Shore Country Day School's Seussical(2017).