Jazz Articles about Chad McCullough

About Chad McCullough

Record Label Profile

Calligram Records: Chicago Meets the World

by Mark McKergow
June 23, 2026

Chicago-based Calligram Records was founded in 2023 by trumpeter Chad McCullough and saxophonist Geof Bradfield. Three years and 34 albums later, they have emerged as an authoritative and varied voice for creative jazz from the Windy City and around the world. Their output ranges from small groups to chamber jazz to lively, horn-driven soul outings. With third anniversary celebration events coming up, it seems like a good time to look behind the scenes of this small yet distinctive label.

Album Review

Chad McCullough: Watch As The Echo Falls

Read "Watch As The Echo Falls" reviewed by Dan McClenaghan

by Dan McClenaghan
April 3, 2026

The music ensemble Atlantic Road Trip started as a quintet that made folk sounds stirred with jazz modes. One (Calligram Records, 2023) was the album. It featured trumpeter Chad McCullough in the leader's spot. He was joined by alto saxophonist and multi-reedist Paul Towndrow, Miro Herak on vibraphone, bassist Connor Murray, with Alyn Cosker in the drummer's seat. The cultures and geographies did not collide there. They danced. Towndrow's use of whistles and flute evoked images of Ireland and Scotland. ...

Album Review

Chad McCullough: Transverse

Read "Transverse" reviewed by Jack Bowers

by Jack Bowers
July 31, 2025

Would all those who can locate North Macedonia on a map please raise your hands. Not many, it seems. For the benefit of those whose hands remained motionless, it is a part of the Balkan Peninsula in southeast Europe whose boundaries overspread parts of half a dozen Balkan countries including Greece, Bulgaria, Albania, Serbia and Kosovo. So much for geography. What is relevant for the purpose of this review is that the country has an active jazz scene, one that ...

Album Review

Chad McCullough: Transverse

Read "Transverse" reviewed by Dan McClenaghan

by Dan McClenaghan
July 13, 2025

Chance encounters can be fortuitous and fruitful. Trumpeter Chad McCullough, on a visit to Macedonia to convene with family, found his way into a small cafe in Skopje, the capital of Independent North Macedonia, where he encountered a local trio: pianist Gordon Spasovski, bassist Kiril Tufekcievski and drummer Viktor Filipovski. McCullough had his horn with him. He was invited to sit in. A musical connection came about and eventually Transverse happened--the group's first “recording together on American soil" (a quote ...

Album Review

James Davis' Beveled: Arc and Edge

Read "Arc and Edge" reviewed by Mark Corroto

by Mark Corroto
June 1, 2025

Trumpeter James Davis' sextet is aptly named Beveled--a word that means transforming a sharp, square edge into something smoother, more refined. That concept of reshaping and softening defines both the ensemble's instrumentation and its sonic character. Davis sets the tone by trading his bright trumpet for the warmer, more introspective voice of the flugelhorn. He deepens this resonance by adding a second flugelhorn, played by Chad McCullough, alongside two bass clarinetists, Geof Bradfield and Michael Salter. The bass clarinet, known ...

Album Review

James Davis' Beveled: Arc and Edge

Read "Arc and Edge" reviewed by Jack Bowers

by Jack Bowers
May 31, 2025

Beveled, according to Webster's, translates roughly to “slanted" or “grooved." On Arc and Edge, flugelhornist James Davis' Chicago-based sextet clearly has its own slant on contemporary post-bop jazz wherein the groove ranges from typically improvised passages to cutting-edge motifs and classical chamber music, using a second flugelhorn, two bass clarinets and rhythm to flesh out the leader's sonically unique and harmonically sophisticated compositions. The second flugelhorn is that of Chad McCullough. Geof Bradfield and Michael Salter man ...

Album Review

Alyn Cosker: Onta

by Neil Duggan
May 11, 2025

Ayr is a coastal town situated in the southwest of Scotland. It is enjoyed by tourists for its scenic beach and as the location of the birthplace of the national poet Robert Burns. It also serves as the inspiration for Onta, the third album from drummer Alyn Cosker, who makes this his love letter to the town of his birth. Buddy Rich fan Cosker is often found with The Scottish National Jazz Orchestra. In his solo career, he ...