Born: Trenton, New Jersey (USA) 1959

Bassist/composer Drew Gress has performed with artists ranging the entire spectrum of contemporary improvised music. He is a founding member of the cooperative quartet Joint Venture, whose three Enja albums, Joint Venture, Ways and Mirrors, have all received widespread critical acclaim. He currently leads a New York-based quartet, Jagged Sky, that performs his original compositions.

Mr. Gress has toured North, South, and Central America, Europe, and in 1998 performed throughout Asia with Ethel Ennis. This tour included several concerts in China, exposing the Chinese people to Western improvised music for the very first time. Drew has also appeared as featured soloist at the Chicago, Vancouver, and Montreal Jazz Festivals, and at the Leverkusener and Vilshofen festivals in Germany. He has also served as Artist-in-Residence at the St. Petersburg Conservatory in Russia and at the University of Colorado-Boulder.

Mr. Gress holds a M.M. degree from the Manhattan School of Music in New York City, where he currently resides. He is an Endorsing Artist for Hartke Speaker Systems.

When Drew is not performing with Jagged Sky or Joint Venture, he can be heard with the internationally-acclaimed Paul Smoker Trio, the Grammy-nominated Fred Hersch Trio, the Dave Douglas String Group, Tim Berne's Paraphrase, Andy Laster's Hydra, Erik Friedlander's Chimera, and the Lynne Arriale Trio.