Chris Corsano is an American improviser based in Chicago, Illinois.
Corsano picked up the drums after seeing his half-brother Tony playing. Corsano's first drum set had Animal from the Muppets on the bass, and he largely is self-taught, tapping along to a boom box. Capt. Beefheart, the Minutemen, and Mitch Mitchell served as early influences, depriving Corsano of a desire for pristine technique.
"As long as there are basements in Northern New Jersey, there will be cheap, used and fucked-up drum sets available to young upstarts who don't know any better, from men with thin mustaches and cut off jeans," Corsano says about his childhood.
Corsano has performed with artists including Bjork, Evan Parker, Sunburned Hand of the Man, Six Organs of Admittance, Dredd Foole, Bill Orcutt, Kim Gordon, Björk (on the studio recording and world tour for Volta), Thurston Moore, Jim O'Rourke, Jandek, Matt Valentine, Nels Cline, Vibracathedral Orchestra, Cold Bleak Heat, Michael Flower, C. Spencer Yeh, Mette Rasmussen, John Edwards, Sylvie Courvoisier, Okkyung Lee, and Nate Wooley.
Corsano has performed with saxophonist Paul Flaherty for more than twenty years and on more than twenty records in a style they call "The Hated Music." He has also recorded several albums each with Rangda (trio with Sir Richard Bishop and Ben Chasny), Chikamorachi (duo with Darin Gray), and Vampire Belt (duo with Bill Nace).
Corsano received a Foundation for Contemporary Arts Grants to Artists award in 2017.