Matt Ulery
Bassist, Composer, Improviser, Bandleader | 2024 Platform Award Recipient
Matt Ulery is a bassist (double bass/bass guitar/tuba) and composer. He leads several of his own ensembles, including but not limited to, Sifting Stars Orchestra (orchestral art songs), Loom Large (jazz big band), Loom (jazz quintet), Delicate Charms (jazz quintet), Pollinator (jazz brass band), By a Little Light (chamber jazz nonet), Mannerist (chamber undectet),Viscous (string quintet), and his latest high energy, folk-dance/post-punk/free-jazz band, Mother Harp. He has 15 albums of original music. Beyond his own projects, Ulery has collaborated with ensembles such as Grammy award winning Eighth Blackbird, Miami String Quartet, New Millennium Orchestra of Chicago, Brazos Valley Symphony Orchestra, Chamber Music Festival of Lexington, Axiom Brass, Guimaraes (Portugal) Jazz Festival, Projeto Arcomusical and the Carmine Caruso International Jazz Trumpet Solo Competition. Matt is extremely active in the Chicago area music spheres and has performed with his own groups at prestigious venues such as Carnegie Hall, NYC Winter Jazz Festival, Chicago Orchestra Hall, Pritzker Pavillion, Chicago Cultural Center, NPR Tiny Desk, JazzShowcase, Metro, Green Mill, Constellation, Chicago Jazz Festival, Hyde Park Jazz Festival, Chicago World Music Festival, Vancouver Jazz Festival, Guimaraes Jazz Festival, and countless other spaces. Ulery is on faculty at Loyola, Northeastern Illinois, and Roosevelt Universities in Chicago and gives masterclasses and clinics internationally. Beginning his music career in Chicago in the late 90’s playing ska/punk shows at the Fireside Bowl in Logan Square, Ulery has been a full-time professional musician living in Chicago for 24 years and holds degrees from Roosevelt and DePaul Universities.
