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Drew Gress
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 & Drift quartet as London's Best Jazz Concert for 2002, and in the same year he received a SESAC Composer's Award; this in addition to previous grants from the National Endowment for the Arts and Meet the Composer. He currently resides in New York.
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Sylvie Courvoisier: Chimaera
by John Sharpe
Even though pianist Sylvie Courvoisier has bassist Drew Gress and drummer Kenny Wollesen on hand for Chimaera, the six-piece band is a long way from being merely the storied threesome, which made Double Windsor (Tzadik, 2014), D'Agala (Intakt, 2018) and Free Hoops (Intakt, 2020), plus added guests. As she explains in the liners, the music was originally commissioned for the 2021 Sons d'Hiver festival in Paris and was inspired by the surreal works of French Symbolist artist ...
read moreEva Novoa: Novoa / Gress / Gray Trio, Vol. 1
by Mike Jurkovic
A vivid sense of drama and its intrinsic, minute shadings of light upon dark places animate pianistEva Novoa's work. Barcelona bred and keening with Brooklyn bravura, Novoa swaps the fore and backgrounds with uncompromised glee. Expressionistic, Impressionistic, and forthright, she aligns and upsets the edges to her liking. That, along with the crackling, crosstown chi of bassist/modular synthesist ((Drew Gress}} and drummer Devin Gray makes music like Miss Celebrity," Sushi at 6," in fact the whole of Novoa/Gress/Gray Trio, Vol. ...
read moreSylvie Courvoisier: Chimaera
by Troy Dostert
It says something about pianist Sylvie Courvoisier's current profile in creative jazz that she could assemble such a distinguished ensemble for her latest release, Chimaera. Augmenting her usual trio of bassist Drew Gress and drummer Kenny Wollesen are trumpeters Wadada Leo Smith and Nate Wooley, and with the always interesting Christian Fennesz completing the group on guitar and electronics, one would expect extraordinary results. And so they are--worthy of a lengthy, two-CD treatment, in fact. Courvoisier's work with ...
read moreGeorge Colligan: Ultimatum
by C. Andrew Hovan
Unlike classical music, where so much of the performance is based on an authentic interpretation of the material, jazz has always been more about inventiveness and the musician's quest to find an original voice. Additionally, some of the most innovative artists in the genre have been known not only for their instrumental prowess, but also for great bodies of work that have substantially contributed to the jazz annals. Men like Charles Mingus, Duke Ellington, and Thad Jones, to name only ...
read moreYelena Eckemoff: I Am a Stranger in This World
by Mark Sullivan
Russian-born pianist/composer Yelena Eckemoff began setting verses from the Bible's Book of Psalms shortly after her conversion to Christianity, even before her emigration to the United States. But she waited until she had considerable experience working with jazz musicians before producing her jazz arrangements. They were first recorded on her album Better Than Gold and Silver [L&H Production, 2018], which presented ten Psalm settings in both vocal and instrumental versions. The detailed story of how Yelena Eckemoff came to set ...
read moreMarc Copland Quartet: Someday
by Dan McClenaghan
Marc Copland is a former saxophonist who found his instrument artistically confining for the purposes of expressing his vision. So he called on his childhood piano training (synaptic memories intact) to make the switch to the keyboard. The results have been magic. His artistry with the 88s is second only to the late Bill Evans, and an argument for his surpassing of Evans could be made. His discography boasts more than forty albums as a leader, beginning in 1988 with ...
read moreFred Hersch: Breath By Breath
by John Chacona
Why is Fred Hersch not sufficiently mentioned among the great jazz pianists? It could be a generational thing. At 66, Hersch is an eminent tweener, too old to qualify as the Hot New Thing and too young to be an Elder Statesman. He's in good company there with fellow sexagenarians Myra Melford, Satoko Fujii, Uri Caine, Jean-Michel Pilc and Matthew Shipp. It's true that Hersch's contemporaries Geri Allen, Mulgrew Miller and Kenny Kirkland have entered the pantheon (and Frank Kimbrough ...
read morePianist/Composer Randy Ingram Set To Release His Most Personal & Enlightening Recording To Date, "The Wandering" Featuring Bassist Drew Gress
Source:
Jason Byrne, Red Cat Publicity
Available on Sunnyside Records – April 21, 2017 CD Release Celebration – April 19, 2017 @ The Jazz Gallery, NYC! Pianist-composer Randy Ingram has put himself in a position to reveal more about his musical identity by scaling down to record The Wandering, a sophisticated, personal and enlightening duo album with bassist Drew Gress. While other instrumentalists can choose a different mouthpiece or effects pedal to modulate and personalize their sound, pianists must develop their identity by how and what ...
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Michael McNeill With Drew Gress & Phil Haynes Tonight In Brooklyn
Source:
Michael McNeill
Michael McNeill’s trio with the bassist Drew Gress and the drummer Phil Haynes explores the pianist’s original compositions, which range from lyrical ballads, to hard-driving jazz, to avant-garde soundscapes. Gress and Haynes are a seasoned rhythm team — their collaboration goes back nearly three decades, and they appear together on some 18 albums — and with McNeill they push and pull the pianist’s music in new directions. Over the past four years McNeill has become an integral part of the ...
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Angles Of Repose, Featuring: Mat Maneri, Drew Gress, Lucian Ban, Randy Peterson
Source:
Lwm
Brooklyn, NY: The palimpsestic Series, curated by Oscar Noriega, presents “Angles of Repose” featuring Mat Maneri, Viola, Drew Gress, Bass, Lucian Ban, Piano and Randy Peterson, drums, October 24, 8pm at Barbes, Park Slope Brooklyn. Angles, always presented as a quartet led by Maneri and Ban, will be presenting new music for this performance. “Angles of Repose” is the continuation of a musical rapport developing between violist Mat Maneri and pianist Lucian Ban which features an ever changing roster of ...
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Jane Ira Bloom, Fred Hersch, Drew Gress at Philoctetes Center on December 14th
Source:
All About Jazz
Soprano saxophonist Jane Ira Bloom, pianist Fred Hersch, & bassist Drew Gress present a performance/ discussion on Jazz Improvisation: The Art of the Ballad" at The Philoctetes Center for the Multidisciplinary Study of Imagination in NYC on Sunday Dec 14 at 2:30 pm. The Center is located at 47 East 82nd Street,
3rd Floor, NYC. Phone: 646-422-0544. Events at Philoctetes are free and open to the public. Seating is on a first come basis. The Philoctetes Center 247 ...
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Drew Gress Featured on NPR's Fresh Air with Terry Gross and in the NY Times!
Source:
Jason Byrne, Red Cat Publicity
Bassist/Composer Drew Gress ON TOUR In Support + Celebration of The Irrational Numbers, His Third Album for Premonition Much as Gress likes aggressive playing, he doesn't deny his love of good melody. On The Irrational Numbers, the way he plays those tendencies off each other may be one more way he defeats expectations. But it's not like musicians have to choose. Why not have it all?" - Kevin Whitehead on NPR's Fresh Air If there's still any line in the ...
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Assist/Composer Drew Gress on Tour in Support + Celebration of the Irrational Numbers
Source:
Jason Byrne, Red Cat Publicity
Bassist/Composer Drew Gress ON TOUR In Support + Celebration of The Irrational Numbers, His Third Album for Premonition Much as Gress likes aggressive playing, he doesn't deny his love of good melody. On The Irrational Numbers, the way he plays those tendencies off each other may be one more way he defeats expectations. But it's not like musicians have to choose. Why not have it all?" - Kevin Whitehead on NPR's Fresh Air If there's still any line in the ...
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Premonition Records Releases New Album from Bassist/Composer Drew Gress
Source:
Jason Byrne, Red Cat Publicity
Premonition Records Releases New Album, The Irrational Numbers, From Bassist/Composer Drew Gress Third Gress Album for Premonition In Stores February 19, 2008 Premonition Records is proud to announce the release of The Irrational Numbers, by bassist/composer Drew Gress. With The Irrational Numbers, his third for Premonition, Gress adds another stellar album to his already impressive discography of smart and uncompromising modern jazz. The album features the same core group of players who appeared on Gress' previous Premonition album, ...
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Drew Gress and 7 Black Butterflies at The Jazz Gallery - Friday, June 10
Source:
All About Jazz
RED CAT PUBLICITY J A S O N B Y R N E 415 85th Street, #3R, Brooklyn, New York, 11209, Tel 718 921 1330, Email [email protected] PREMONITION RECORDS ANNOUNCES A NEW ALBUM FROM DREW GRESS GRESS TO CELEBRATE RELEASE WITH JUNE 10 PERFORMANCE AT THE JAZZ GALLERY 7 BLACK BUTTERFLIES In stores NOW (release date was May 24, 2005) FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Premonition Records announces the May 24, 2005 release of a new album from New York bassist/composer Drew ...
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Photos
Music
To Swing or Not
From: Coda(s)By Drew Gress
Something
From: SomethingBy Drew Gress
The Miss
From: For NowBy Drew Gress
Beloved Refracted
From: Originals (Day Dream)By Drew Gress