Matt Ulery's Mother Harp and Sifting Stars

Chicago based bassist/composer/songwriter, Matt Ulery, leads two bands at his Space debut. This special concert unfolds in two distinct but connected sets that spotlight the breadth of Matt Ulerys musical vision. The first set features Mother Harp, a potent, high energy quintet with a unique folk dance/post-punk/free jazz ethos with Ulery on bass guitar and featuring Russ Johnson (trumpet), Artie Black (tenor saxophone and clarinet), Dustin Laurenzi (tenor saxophone and guitar), and Quin Kirchner (drums). In contrast, the second set presents Ulerys newest song band, Sifting Stars, where he moves to Wurlitzer electric piano and sings with bandmates Katie Ernst (vox/bass), Jim Tashjian (vox/guitar), and Matt Gold (vox/guitar/synth), drawing the audience into Ulerys distinctive songs with maximum vulnerability and emotional depth. While the instrumentation, roles, and temperature shift between sets, both are unmistakably tied together by Ulerys compositional voicethoughtfully lyrical, spacious, and dynamic. Matt Ulery, has produced and released 16 critically acclaimed albums of all original music under his name. In 2014, he performed with his quintet, Loom, on the NPRs Tiny Desk Concert series and was featured in Vanity Fair Magazine in a rising jazz stars feature article. Known for his sweeping lyricism, unconventional phrase structures, expressionistic emotionalism, Ulerys music, from small, diverse chamber ensembles to full orchestras, is informed by the entire spectrum of jazz, classical, rock, pop, and folk specifically American, South American, Balkan, and other European folk styles. He has been performing for 30 years on upright, electric, and brass basses. Recent accolades include the Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events Esteemed Artist Award in 2021 and the highly prestigious Platform Award from the Walder Foundation in 2024.