Drew Gress (born November 20, 1959) is an American

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a major ...

double-bassist and composer born in

Trenton, New Jersey Trenton is the capital city of the U.S. state of New Jersey and the county seat of Mercer County. It was the capital of the United States from November 1 to December 24, 1784.Towson State University Towson University (TU or Towson) is a public university in Towson, Maryland. Founded in 1866 as Maryland's first training school for teachers, Towson University is a part of the University System of Maryland. Since its founding, the university h ...

and

Manhattan School of Music The Manhattan School of Music (MSM) is a private music conservatory in New York City. The school offers bachelor's, master's, and doctoral degrees in the areas of classical and jazz performance and composition, as well as a bachelor's in mu ...

. In the late 1980s he worked with

Phil Haynes Phil may refer to: * Phil (given name), a shortened version of masculine and feminine names * Phill, a given name also spelled "Phil" * Phil, Kentucky, United States * ''Phil'' (film), a 2019 film * -phil-, a lexical fragment, used as a root ter ...

, recording several albums with the group ''Joint Venture''. In 1998, he released his first album as leader, ''Heyday'', with his band Jagged Sky (featuring

David Binney David Binney (born August 2, 1961) is an American alto saxophonist and composer. Early life Binney was born in Miami, Florida, and was raised in Carpinteria, California. From his parents, who loved music, he was exposed to albums by John C ...

Ben Monder Ben Monder (born May 24, 1962) is an American modern jazz guitarist. Biography Monder started playing guitar when he was eleven, after two years on violin. From 1979–84, he attended the Westchester Conservatory of Music, the University of Miam ...

, and

Kenny Wollesen Kenny Wollesen (born 1966) is an American drummer and percussionist. Wollesen has recorded and toured with Tom Waits, Sean Lennon, Ron Sexsmith, Bill Frisell, Norah Jones, John Lurie, Myra Melford, Steven Bernstein, and John Zorn. He is a foun ...

). Gress wrote all except two of the compositions. Two years later, he recorded ''Spin & Drift'', on which he also played steel guitar. He recorded material for two further albums – ''7 Black Butterflies'' and ''The Irrational Numbers'' – in 2004. Gress has taught at

Peabody Conservatory The Peabody Institute of The Johns Hopkins University is a private conservatory and preparatory school in Baltimore, Maryland. It was founded in 1857 and opened in 1866 by merchant/financier and philanthropist George Peabody (1795–1869) ...

and

Western Connecticut State University Western Connecticut State University (WCSU and WestConn) is a public university in Danbury, Connecticut. It was founded in 1903 as a teacher's college and is part of the Connecticut State University System. WCSU consists of four schools: the Anc ...

. He has also served tenures as artist in residence at

University of Colorado-Boulder The University of Colorado Boulder (CU Boulder, CU, or Colorado) is a public research university in Boulder, Colorado. Founded in 1876, five months before Colorado became a state, it is the flagship university of the University of Colorado syst ...

and at Russia's

St. Petersburg Conservatory The N. A. Rimsky-Korsakov Saint Petersburg State Conservatory (russian: Санкт-Петербургская государственная консерватория имени Н. А. Римского-Корсакова) (formerly known as th ...

. Gress has toured Europe, Asia, and South America. Those with whom he has and continues to work include

Tim Berne Tim Berne (born October 16, 1954) is an American avant-garde jazz saxophonist and record label owner. His primary instruments are the alto and baritone saxophones. Biography Berne was born in Syracuse, New York, United States. He has said that ...

Uri Caine Uri Caine (born June 8, 1956, Philadelphia, United States) is an American classical and jazz pianist and composer. Biography Early years The son of Burton Caine, a professor at Temple Law School, and poet Shulamith Wechter Caine, Caine began ...

Fred Hersch Fred Hersch (born October 21, 1955) is an American jazz pianist, educator and HIV/AIDS activist. He was the first person to play weeklong engagements as a solo pianist at the Village Vanguard in New York City. He has recorded more than 70 of his ...

Don Byron Donald Byron (born November 8, 1958) is an American composer and multi-instrumentalist. He primarily plays clarinet but has also played bass clarinet and saxophone in a variety of genres that includes free jazz and klezmer. Biography His mother w ...

, Dave Douglas, and

Erik Friedlander Erik Friedlander is an American cellist and composer based in New York City. A veteran of New York City's experimental downtown scene, Friedlander has worked in many contexts, but is perhaps best known for his frequent collaborations with sax ...

. Critic

John Fordham John Fordham (died 1425) was Bishop of Durham and Bishop of Ely. Fordham was keeper of the privy seal of Prince Richard from 1376 to 1377 and Dean of Wells before being named Lord Privy Seal in June 1377. He held that office until December 1381. ...

described a performance by Gress's group as "one of the great jazz performances in Britain in 2002". 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).

Playing and composing style

The ''

DownBeat ' (styled in all caps) is an American music magazine devoted to "jazz, blues and beyond", the last word indicating its expansion beyond the jazz realm which it covered exclusively in previous years. The publication was established in 1934 in Chi ...

'' reviewer of ''Vesper'', a collaboration between Gress and the trio expEAR, wrote that the bassist "has exquisite time and a composer's sense of line, a combination that allows him an insightful level of counterpoint in his playing". The ''DownBeat'' reviewer of Gress's ''The Sky inside'' wrote that he "favors a focused restraint, a sort of concentrated tension that wrings the maximum inspiration from minimal elements, and which maintains a taut severity even when spare free passages burst into angular swing".

Discography

As leader

* ''Heyday'' (as Drew Gress's Jagged Sky) (

Soul Note Black Saint and Soul Note are two affiliated Italian independent record labels. Since their conception in the 1970s, they have released albums from a variety of influential jazz musicians, particularly in the genre of free jazz. History Black S ...

, 1998) * ''Spin & Drift'' (Premonition, 2001) * ''7 Black Butterflies'' (Premonition, 2005) * ''The Irrational Numbers'' (Premonition, 2008) * ''And Again'' with Shims Trio (Deepdig, 2012) * ''The Sky Inside'' (Pirouet, 2013)

As sideman

With John Abercrombie * ''

Within a Song ''Within a Song'' is a studio album by guitarist John Abercrombie's Quartet with saxophonist Joe Lovano, bassist Drew Gress, and drummer Joey Baron that was recorded in 2012 and released by ECM.

'' ( ECM, 2012) * '' 39 Steps'' (ECM, 2013) * ''

Up and Coming ''Up and Coming'' is an American television drama series which aired on Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) during the 1980-1981 season. Synopsis The series depicts the Wilsons, a successful African American family from Oakland, California who mo ...

'' (ECM, 2017) With

* '' Visitation Rites'' ( Screwgun, 1997) * '' Please Advise'' (Screwgun, 1999) * '' Pre-Emptive Denial'' (Screwgun, 2005) With

* '' Wagner e Venezia'' (

Winter & Winter Winter & Winter is a record label in Munich, Germany that specializes in jazz, classical and improvised music. It was founded by Stefan Winter following the demise of his JMT Records label. Since 1997 Winter & Winter has released records by Da ...

, 1997) * '' The Goldberg Variations'' (Winter & Winter, 2000) * ''

Uri Caine Ensemble Plays Mozart ''Uri Caine Ensemble Plays Mozart'' is a live album by pianist Uri Caine's Ensemble performing works written by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart recorded in 2006 and released on the Winter & Winter label. It was recorded at the Amstel church in Amsterdam as ...

'' (Winter & Winter, 2006) With Joint Venture * ''Joint Venture'' (

Enja Enja Records is a German jazz record company and label based in Munich which was founded by jazz enthusiasts Matthias Winckelmann and Horst Weber in 1971. The label's first release was by Mal Waldron, and early releases included European and Ja ...

, 1987) * ''Ways'' (Enja, 1989) * ''Mirrors'' (Enja, 1994) With

Yelena Eckemoff Yelena Eckemoff is a Russian-born pianist, composer, poet, and visual artist. Her compositions blend classical music with jazz, and feature exploration and improvisation. Music career Eckemoff was born in Moscow, Russia, in the Soviet Union. He ...

* ''In the Shadow of a Cloud'' (L&H, 2017) * ''Better Than Gold and Silver'' (L&H, 2018) * ''I Am a Stranger in This World'' (L&H, 2022) With others *

Ralph Alessi Ralph Alessi (born March 5, 1963) is an American jazz trumpeter, composer, and ECM recording artist. Alessi is known as a virtuosic performer whose critically-acclaimed projects include his Baida Quartet, with Jason Moran, Drew Gress, and Nashee ...

, '' Baida'' (ECM, 2013) * Ray Anderson, ''

Big Band Record ''Big Band Record'' is an album by trombonist Ray Anderson and the George Gruntz Concert Jazz Band which was released on the Gramavision label in 1994.Rousell, PDiscography of Tim Berneaccessed June 28, 2018 Lynne Arriale Lynne Arriale is an American jazz pianist, composer, bandleader and educator. She is Professor of Jazz Studies and Director of Small Ensembles at the University of North Florida. Awards and honors *"The Lights Are Always On" (2022) #3 on JazzWeek ...

, ''With Words Unspoken'' (DMP, 1996) * Jon Ballantyne, ''The Loose'' (Justin Time, 1994) *

, ''Romance with the Unseen'' (

Blue Note In jazz and blues, a blue note is a note that—for expressive purposes—is sung or played at a slightly different pitch from standard. Typically the alteration is between a quartertone and a semitone, but this varies depending on the musical co ...

, 1999) *

Marc Copland Marc or MARC may refer to: People * Marc (given name), people with the first name * Marc (surname), people with the family name Acronyms * MARC standards, a data format used for library cataloging, * MARC Train, a regional commuter rail system o ...

, ''Night Whispers'' (Pirouet, 2009) * Marc Copland, ''Better by Far'' (InnerVoice, 2017) * Dave Douglas, ''

Five 5 is a number, numeral, and glyph. 5, five or number 5 may also refer to: * AD 5, the fifth year of the AD era * 5 BC, the fifth year before the AD era Literature * ''5'' (visual novel), a 2008 visual novel by Ram * ''5'' (comics), an awa ...

'' (Soul Note, 1996) * Dave Douglas, ''

Convergence Convergence may refer to: Arts and media Literature *''Convergence'' (book series), edited by Ruth Nanda Anshen *Convergence (comics), "Convergence" (comics), two separate story lines published by DC Comics: **A four-part crossover storyline that ...

'' (Soul Note, 1999) *

Ellery Eskelin Ellery Eskelin (born August 16, 1959) is an American tenor saxophonist raised in Baltimore, Maryland and residing in New York City. His parents, Rodd Keith and Bobbie Lee, were both professional musicians. Rodd Keith died in 1974 in Los Angeles, ...

, ''Setting the Standard'' (Cadence, 1989) *

, ''

Chimera Chimera, Chimaera, or Chimaira (Greek for " she-goat") originally referred to: * Chimera (mythology), a fire-breathing monster of Ancient Lycia said to combine parts from multiple animals * Mount Chimaera, a fire-spewing region of Lycia or Cilicia ...

'' (

Avant AVANT, also known as AVANT street art guerrilla collective, was the artist group active in New York City from 1980 to 1984. By 1984 AVANT had produced thousands of acrylic on paper paintings and plastered them on walls, doors, bus-stops and gallerie ...

, 1995 * Erik Friedlander, '' The Watchman'' (

Tzadik Tzadik ( he, צַדִּיק , "righteous ne, also ''zadik'', ''ṣaddîq'' or ''sadiq''; pl. ''tzadikim'' ''ṣadiqim'') is a title in Judaism given to people considered righteous, such as biblical figures and later spiritual masters. The ...

, 1996) * David Kane, ''Machinery of the Night'' (Magellan, 2006) *

Tony Malaby Tony Malaby (born January 12, 1964) is an American jazz tenor saxophonist. Malaby was born in Tucson, Arizona. He moved to New York City in 1995 and played with several notable jazz groups, including Charlie Haden’s Liberation Music Orchestra, ...

, ''Apparations'' (Songlines, 2003) * Liam Noble, ''Romance Among the Fishes'' (Basho, 2005) * Jason Robinson, ''Tiresian Symmetry'' (Cuneiform, 2012) * Samo Salamon, ''Almost Almond'' (Sanje, 2011) *

John Surman John Douglas Surman (born 30 August 1944) is an English jazz saxophone, bass clarinet, and synthesizer player, and composer of free jazz and modal jazz, often using themes from folk music. He has composed and performed music for dance performanc ...

, '' Brewster's Rooster'' (ECM, 2007) *

Tom Varner Tom Varner (born June 17, 1957 in Morristown, New Jersey, United States) is an American jazz horn (French horn) player and composer. Varner grew up in Millburn, New Jersey, and studied piano in his youth with Capitola Dickerson of Summit, Ne ...

, '' Martian Heartache'' (Soul Note, 1996)

References

External links

Drew Gress Drew Gress (born November 20, 1959) is an American jazz double-bassist and composer born in Trenton, New Jersey and raised in the Philadelphia area. Biography Gress studied at Towson State University and Manhattan School of Music. In the late ...

Allmusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...

* Joint Venture Discographyat Allmusic {{DEFAULTSORT:Gress, Drew 1959 births Living people Musicians from Trenton, New Jersey Towson University alumni 21st-century double-bassists 21st-century American male musicians American jazz double-bassists Classical Jazz Quartet members Male double-bassists American male jazz musicians Pennsbury High School alumni Pirouet Records artists Enja Records artists Basho Records artists