drew gress press kit
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8/11/2019 Drew Gress Press Kit
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Bassist/composer Drew Gress (born Trenton N.J. 1959) performs extensively with artists on the
cutting edge of contemporary improvised music. His latest project as a leader, 7 BLACK BUTTERFLIES
(Premonition Records), features 9 of Drews newest original compositions and will be released in MAY
2005. This is the follow up to 2001s SPIN & DRIFT, which received widespread critical acclaim and also
featured Drews pedal-steel guitar playing. He also leads the quartet Jagged Sky; their debut recording,
HEYDAY(Soul Note) was released in 1998 and is now considered somewhat of an underground classic.
Previously, he was a founding member of the cooperative quartet Joint Venture, producing three albums
in the early 1990s for Enja: Joint Venture, Ways, and Mirrors.
When Drew is not leading his own ensembles, he can be heard within those of Ralph Alessi, Tim Berne,
Don Byron, Uri Caine, Bill Carrothers, Ravi Coltrane, Marc Copland, Fred Hersch, John Hollenbeck,
Andy Laster, Tony Malaby, Mat Maneri, Simon Nabatov, Ben Perowsky, and Tim Ziesmer.
(In a previous musical life, he grounded the performances of Buddy Hackett, Phyllis Diller, Zoot Sims,
Cab Calloway, and yes...Pia Zadora).
Drew has toured North, South, and Central America, Europe, and Asia, and has served as Artist-in-
Residence at St. Petersburg Conservatory in Russia and at the University of Colorado-Boulder. The
Gaurdian selected a concert given by his Spin &v Drift quartet as Londons Best Jazz Concert for 2002,
and in the same year he received a SESAC Composers Award; this in addition to previous grants from
the National Endowment for the Arts and Meet the Composer. He currently resides in New York.
Drew is an Endorsing Artist for Thomastik strings.
Anyone losing sleep over whether jazz is going anywhere these days should listen to this superb
American quartet. Together the band provide dazzling reassurances, as they play characteristic
jazz phrasing but twist the tradition into uniquely contemporary shapes. John Fordham, The
Guardian, UK
Spin & Drift furthers his investigations of new possibilities in meticulous, organic group form. As a
leader, Gress employs a superbly articulate bassist (himself), but his primary interest is composition and
arrangement and collective concept. - Thomas Conrad, Downbeat Magazine
Spin & Drift cannot be described as either hard-bop-derived or avant-garde experimentation... the
session absorbs the listener because of its unpredictable changes and comfortable ease of transition.
Jim Santella, AllAboutJazz.com
4 stars ****
He assembles some of the hottest players in contemporary jazz to aid him in his quest... and sets about
creating an impassioned argument for the future of the medium. Though not light on solo improvisation,
Spin & Drift is that rare beast among jazz albums; a consolidated, composition-based, band effort.
Jeff Miers, Blue Dog Press
Biography
Reviews
Drew Gress
DGPress Kit v02CDs
Spin & Drift
Drew Gress - bass & pedal steel
Tim Berne - alto & baritone saxophones
Uri Caine - piano
Tom Rainey - drums
Heyday
Drew Gress - bass
Dave Binney - alto saxophone
Ben Monder - guitar
Kenny Wollensen - drums
7 Black Butterflies
Drew Gress - bass
Ralph Alessi - trumpet
Tim Berne - alto saxophone
Craig Taborn - piano
Tom Rainey - drums
Drew Gress
www.drewgress.com
Contact
Saudades TourneenThomas Stoewsand
A-6200 Rotholz 369a
Austria
Phone : 43 5244 61151
Fax : 43 5244 61155
see www.drewgress.com.
Bookings in Europe
Press Photos
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