Drew Gress
Encyclopedia
Jazz
Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...
double-bassist and composer born in Trenton, New Jersey
Trenton, New Jersey
Trenton is the capital of the U.S. state of New Jersey and the county seat of Mercer County. As of the 2010 United States Census, Trenton had a population of 84,913...
, raised in the Philadelphia area, and currently based in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
.
Biography
Gress became interested in jazz and the double bass while a teenager, joining the Pennsbury Concert Jazz Band, a nationally-prominent high school jazz ensemble, in 1975, spending two years as bassist and arranger for the group. His interest in composing original material for large ensembles, such as those of Johnny Richards, Billy MayBilly May
William E. "Billy" May was an American composer, arranger and trumpeter. He composed film and television music, for The Green Hornet , Batman , and Naked City and collaborated on films, such as Pennies from Heaven , and orchestrated Cocoon, and Cocoon: The Return among...
, and Pat Williams, led him to Baltimore’s Towson State University in 1977, where he studied composition and counterpoint with Hank Levy
Hank Levy
Hank Levy was an American jazz composer and saxophonist whose works often employed unusual time signatures...
, known for his work with Don Ellis
Don Ellis
Don Ellis was an American jazz trumpeter, drummer, composer and bandleader. He is best known for his extensive musical experimentation, particularly in the area of unusual time signatures...
and Stan Kenton
Stan Kenton
Stanley Newcomb "Stan" Kenton was a pianist, composer, and arranger who led a highly innovative, influential, and often controversial American jazz orchestra. In later years he was widely active as an educator....
. While at Towson, Gress established a playing relationship with saxophonist Ellery Eskelin
Ellery Eskelin
Ellery Eskelin American tenor saxophonist. Born in Wichita, Kansas, raised in Baltimore, Maryland from the age of two. His parents, Rodd Keith and Bobbie Lee, were also musicians. Rodd Keith died in 1974 in Los Angeles, California and became a cult figure after his death in the little known...
, with whom he cofounded Joint Venture
Joint venture
A joint venture is a business agreement in which parties agree to develop, for a finite time, a new entity and new assets by contributing equity. They exercise control over the enterprise and consequently share revenues, expenses and assets...
with Paul Smoker
Paul Smoker
Paul Alva Smoker is an American jazz trumpeter.Smoker grew up in Davenport, Iowa, and moved to Chicago to play professionally. He worked there in the 1960s, playing with Bobby Christian among others...
and Phil Haynes. They released three albums on Enja Records
Enja Records
Enja Records is a German jazz record label based in Munich, Germany. It was founded by jazz enthusiasts Matthias Winckelmann and Horst Weber in 1971....
between 1987 and 1994.
During the 1980s in the Baltimore
Baltimore
Baltimore is the largest independent city in the United States and the largest city and cultural center of the US state of Maryland. The city is located in central Maryland along the tidal portion of the Patapsco River, an arm of the Chesapeake Bay. Baltimore is sometimes referred to as Baltimore...
/Washington DC area, he played with Sonny Stitt
Sonny Stitt
Edward "Sonny" Stitt was an American jazz saxophonist of the bebop/hard bop idiom. He was also one of the best-documented saxophonists of his generation, recording over 100 albums in his lifetime...
, Clifford Jordan
Clifford Jordan
Clifford Laconia Jordan was a jazz saxophone player. While in Chicago, he performed with Max Roach, Sonny Stitt, and some rhythm and blues groups. He moved to New York City in 1957, after which he recorded three albums for Blue Note. He also recorded with Horace Silver, J.J. Johnson, Kenny...
, Albert Dailey
Albert Dailey
Albert Dailey was an American jazz pianist.Dailey's first professional appearances were with the house band of the Baltimore Royal Theater in the early 1950s. Later in the decade he studied at Morgan State University and the Peabody Conservatory...
, Mose Allison
Mose Allison
Mose John Allison, Jr. is an American jazz blues pianist and singer.-Biography:...
, Zoot Sims
Zoot Sims
John Haley "Zoot" Sims was an American jazz saxophonist, playing mainly tenor and soprano.-Biography:He was born in Inglewood, California, the son of vaudeville performers Kate Haley and John Sims. Growing up in a performing family, Sims learned to play both drums and clarinet at an early age...
, Cab Calloway
Cab Calloway
Cabell "Cab" Calloway III was an American jazz singer and bandleader. He was strongly associated with the Cotton Club in Harlem, New York City where he was a regular performer....
, Buddy Hackett
Buddy Hackett
Buddy Hackett was an American comedian and actor.-Early life:Hackett was born in Brooklyn, New York, New York, the son of a Jewish upholsterer. He grew up on 54th and 14th Ave in Borough Park, Brooklyn, across from Public School 103...
, Phyllis Diller
Phyllis Diller
Phyllis Diller is an American actress and comedian. She created a stage persona of a wild-haired, eccentrically dressed housewife who makes jokes about a husband named "Fang" while pretending to smoke from a long cigarette holder...
, and pianist Marc Copland
Marc Copland
Marc Copland is an American jazz pianist and composer.Copland became part of the jazz scene in Philadelphia in the early 1960s as a saxophonist, and later moved to New York where he experimented with electric alto saxophone...
, with whom he still plays today. He also served on the faculties of the Peabody Conservatory, Towson State University, and the Baltimore School for the Arts
Baltimore School for the Arts
Baltimore School for the Arts is a public high school located in Baltimore, Maryland and is a part of its public school system. BSA offers concentrations in classical music, theater, dance, theater production and visual art...
. He formed a quartet, Tekke, in 1989 with David Kane, Glenn Cashman, and Michael Smith
Michael S. Smith
Michael Scott Smith was an American jazz drummer and percussionist.-Career:Based in the Washington D.C...
.
In 1997, he cofounded the cooperative improvising trio Paraphrase
Paraphrase
Paraphrase is restatement of a text or passages, using other words. The term "paraphrase" derives via the Latin "paraphrasis" from the Greek , meaning "additional manner of expression". The act of paraphrasing is also called "paraphrasis."...
with saxophonist/composer Tim Berne
Tim Berne
Tim Berne is an American jazz saxophone player and composer.Described by critic Thom Jurek as commanding "considerable power as a composer and ... frighteningly deft ability as a soloist," Berne has composed and performed prolifically since the 1980s...
and drummer Tom Rainey
Tom Rainey
Thomas "Tom" Rainey is an American drummer.After attending Berklee College of Music he moved to New York in 1979. He has played with American jazz saxophonist and composer Tim Berne, and also with Nels Cline, Fred Hersch, Tony Malaby, Tom Varner, Drew Gress, Kenny Werner, Mark Helias, and Simon...
. Together, they pursued a compositional approach to free improvisational practice. They recorded two live albums together and toured extensively until 2002.
In 1998, he released his first album as leader, Heyday, with his band Jagged Sky (featuring David Binney
David Binney
David Binney is an American alto saxophonist and composer living in New York City.-Biography:David was born in Miami, Florida and raised in Southern California. His parents were jazz fans, and introduced Binney to jazz musicians such as John Coltrane, Miles Davis, Bobby Hutcherson and Wayne Shorter...
, Ben Monder
Ben Monder
-Biography:Monder attended the University of Miami. He has worked with a wide variety of musicians including Lee Konitz, Toots Thielmans, Paul Motian and Maria Schneider....
, and Kenny Wollesen
Kenny Wollesen
Kenny Wollesen is an American drummer and percussionist.Wollesen lives in New York City. He has recorded and toured with many musicians including Tom Waits, Sean Lennon, Ron Sexsmith, Bill Frisell, Norah Jones, Steven Bernstein and John Zorn. He is a founding member of the New Klezmer Trio and a...
). 2001 saw the release of Spin & Drift with Uri Caine
Uri Caine
Uri Caine is an American classical and jazz pianist and composer.-Early years:The son of Burton Caine, a professor at Temple Law School, Caine began playing piano at seven and studied with French jazz pianist Bernard Peiffer at 12. He later studied at the University of Pennsylvania where he came...
, Berne, and Rainey, in which he played pedal steel guitar for the first time.
Earlier in the 1990s, he served tenures as artist in residence at University of Colorado-Boulder and at Russia's St. Petersburg Conservatory.
Since 1992, Gress has maintained an extensive touring schedule, traveling to Europe, Asia, and South America. Those with whom he has and continues to work include Tim Berne
Tim Berne
Tim Berne is an American jazz saxophone player and composer.Described by critic Thom Jurek as commanding "considerable power as a composer and ... frighteningly deft ability as a soloist," Berne has composed and performed prolifically since the 1980s...
, Ravi Coltrane
Ravi Coltrane
Ravi Coltrane is an American post-bop jazz saxophonist. Co-owner of the record label RKM Music, he has produced artists such as pianist Luis Perdomo , guitarist David Gilmore and trumpeter Ralph Alessi....
, Uri Caine
Uri Caine
Uri Caine is an American classical and jazz pianist and composer.-Early years:The son of Burton Caine, a professor at Temple Law School, Caine began playing piano at seven and studied with French jazz pianist Bernard Peiffer at 12. He later studied at the University of Pennsylvania where he came...
, John Hollenbeck, Fred Hersch
Fred Hersch
Fred Hersch is a contemporary American jazz pianist who has become a consistent and highly demanded performer on the international jazz scene....
, Marc Copland
Marc Copland
Marc Copland is an American jazz pianist and composer.Copland became part of the jazz scene in Philadelphia in the early 1960s as a saxophonist, and later moved to New York where he experimented with electric alto saxophone...
, Don Byron
Don Byron
Don Byron is an American composer and multi-instrumentalist. He primarily plays clarinet, but has also used bass clarinet and saxophones....
, Steve Coleman
Steve Coleman
Steve Coleman, born , is an African American saxophone player, spontaneous composer, composer and band leader. His music and concepts have been a heavy influence on contemporary jazz.-Chicago:...
, Dave Douglas, Jack DeJohnette
Jack DeJohnette
Jack DeJohnette is an American jazz drummer, pianist, and composer. He is one of the most influential jazz drummers of the 20th century, due to extensive work as leader and sideman for musicians like Miles Davis, Joe Henderson, Freddie Hubbard, Keith Jarrett and Sonny...
, John Surman
John Surman
John Douglas Surman is an English jazz saxophone, bass clarinet and synthesizer player, and composer of free jazz and modal jazz, often using themes from folk music as a basis...
, Ray Anderson
Ray Anderson (musician)
Ray Anderson is an independent jazz trombone and trumpet player. Anderson is a boisterous trombonist who is masterful at multiphonics. Trained by the Chicago Symphony trombonists, he is regarded as pushing the limits of the instrument. He is a contemporary and colleague of trombonist/composer...
, Erik Friedlander
Erik Friedlander
Erik Friedlander is an American cellist and composer based in New York City.A veteran of NYC's experimental downtown scene, Friedlander has worked in many contexts, but is perhaps best known for his frequent collaborations with saxophonist/composer John Zorn...
, Kenny Werner
Kenny Werner
Kenny Werner is an American jazz pianist.-Biography:Kenny Werner is a world-class pianist and composer. His prolific output of compositions, recordings and publications continue to impact audiences around the world....
, Bill Carrothers, Ralph Alessi
Ralph Alessi
Ralph Alessi is a jazz trumpeter and composer originally from San Rafael, California, probably better known for being a member of bands led by saxophonist Steve Coleman...
, Tony Malaby
Tony Malaby
Tony Malaby is a post-bop jazz tenor saxophonist. Malaby moved to New York City in 1995 and has played with several notable jazz groups, including Charlie Haden’s Liberation Music Orchestra, Paul Motian’s Electric Bebop Band, Mark Helias’s Open Loose, Fred Hersch’s Trio + 2 and Walt Whitman...
, Steve Lehman, and Edsel Gomez. To date, he has appeared on over 140 recordings, 4 of which have received Grammy nominations.
Gress’ own ensembles have toured Europe four times since 2002, in addition to isolated festival appearances in Italy and Portugal. In 2004, the UK’s BBC Radio and London’s Guardian selected his quartet’s live radio broadcast as Jazz Concert of the Year.
Composition awards include an NEA grant (1990), funding from Meet the Composer (2003), a Chamber Music America New Works Grant (2005), a CMA French-American Exchange Grant (2007), and an Encore Grant from that same organization (2008). He continues to compose for larger groups and has begun experimenting with virtual synthesizers.
Discography
As leader- Heyday (Soul Note), 1998; released under the name Jagged Sky
- Spin & Drift (Premonition Records, 2001)
- 7 Black Butterflies (Koch RecordsKoch RecordsE1 Music , the primary subsidiary of E1 Entertainment LP, is the largest independent record label in the United States. It is also distributed by the Universal Music Group in Europe under the name E1 Universal...
, 2005) - The Irrational Numbers (Koch, 2008)
- "Tekke" (Magellan Jazz, 2008) recorded 1989
Paraphrase
- Visitation Rites (Screwgun RecordsScrewgun RecordsScrewgun Records is a jazz record label founded by Tim Berne.Most releases have been by Berne, though a few have been by Berne's associates and bandmates....
, 1997) - Please Advise (Screwgun, 1999
Joint Venture
- Joint Venture (Enja RecordsEnja RecordsEnja Records is a German jazz record label based in Munich, Germany. It was founded by jazz enthusiasts Matthias Winckelmann and Horst Weber in 1971....
, 1987) - Ways (Enja, 1989)
- Mirrors (Enja, 1994)
Mika Pohjola
Mika Pohjola
Mika Pohjola is a Finnish-born jazz pianist and composer, who resides in New York City. He is one of the most prolific Scandinavian jazz musicians in his generation.-Childhood in Helsinki, Finland 1971-87:...
- Ball Play (Blue Music Group, 2003)
With John Surman
John Surman
John Douglas Surman is an English jazz saxophone, bass clarinet and synthesizer player, and composer of free jazz and modal jazz, often using themes from folk music as a basis...
- Brewster's RoosterBrewster's RoosterBrewster's Rooster is an album by English saxophonist John Surman with guitarist John Abercrombie, drummer Jack DeJohnette, and bassist Drew Gress recorded in 2007 and released on the ECM label.-Reception:...
(ECM, 2007)
With Tom Varner
Tom Varner
Tom Varner is an American jazz horn player and composer.Varner studied piano in his youth with Capitola Dickerson of Summit, New Jersey. He holds a B.M...
- Martian HeartacheMartian HeartacheMartian Heartache is an album by American jazz French horn player and composer Tom Varner recorded in 1996 and released on the Italian Soul Note label.-Reception:...
(Soul Note, 1996)