Drew Gress
Born in Yardley, Pennsylvania in 1959, bassist/composer Drew Gress performs extensively with artists on the cut- ting edge of contemporary improvised music. In the mid-1980’s, he quickly established his reputation in the New York jazz scene. Gress, along with Phil Haynes, Ellery Eskelin, and Paul Smoker, formed the Joint Venture-Quartet, which, along with its success, produced several albums over the following years. In 1998 Gress founded his own quartet, Jagged Sky. He can also be heard with the ensembles of John Aber- crombie, Ralph Alessi, Tim Berne, Don Byron, Uri Caine, Bill Carrothers, Ravi Coltrane, Marc Copland, Mark Feldman, Fred Hersch, John Hollenbeck, Tony Malaby, and John Surman. Drew Gress has toured North and South America, Europe, and Asia. He has served as Artist-in-Residence at the St. Petersburg Conservatory in Russia and at the Paris Conservatoire. He has received grants from the National Endowment for the Arts, Meet the Composer, and Chamber Music America. Gress currently resides in New York. He is a sideman on many Pirouet-CDs, including Bill Carrothers’ Joy Spring, Marc Copland’s Night Whispers, Some Love Songs, and Another Place, and Tim Hagans’ Alone Together and Beautiful Lily.