Matt Ulery is a Chicago based bassist and composer. A graduate of the Chicago College of Performing Arts at Roosevelt University and DePaul University, Ulery has penned more than 200 compositions during the course of his still-young career. He leads his own septet, Loom, as well as being a contributing member of the Balkan-inspired group Eastern Blok, which features Serbian guitar master Goran Ivanovic. He has also been the bassist and collaborator with Polish-born singer Grazyna Auguscik for eight years involving multiple musical projects. He has performed and recorded with a lengthy list of notable collaborators, including Fareed Haque, Howard Levy, Patricia Barber, Ron Perrillo, Jeff Parker, In Tall Buildings, and many others. With his recent double CD release of “By a Little Light” on Dave Douglas’s Greenleaf Music label, Ulery continues to receive critical acclaim with new projects to date and beyond.
“Greenleaf is proud to be able to release Matt’s most ambitious music to date. I am most impressed by the pure emotion captured on this recording. By A Little Light is a pure outpouring of feeling. Beyond that richness there is the audacity and strength involved in organizing such a large and cohesive group.” —Dave Douglas
“an increasingly intriguing figure in new-music Chicago, his work… …impossible-to-categorize and viscerally communicative.” —Howard Reich, Chicago Tribune
“Points with conviction to a new generation of Chicago jazz innovators.” —Neil Tesser, Chicago Reader
Matt Ulery – double bass and compositions
Rob Clearfield – piano and accordion
Jon Deitemyer – drums
Geof Bradfield – bass clarinet
Marquis Hill – trumpet