Ben Ferris & Jason Kutz
to
Leopold's Books Bar Caffe 1301 Regent St., Madison, Wisconsin 53715
media release: Featuring Ben Ferris on bass and Jason Kutz on keys!
Ben Ferris is a bassist, composer and educator from Madison. Ben performs regularly in the Midwest, especially with the Ben Ferris Trio, a creative music ensemble that focuses on new compositions by musicians in the band. His group the Ben Ferris Quintet released their debut album, “Home” in 2016 featuring original compositions by Ben and other members of the ensemble. He also leads the Ben Ferris Octet, a group that plays a diverse selection of jazz repertoire. Ben competed as a finalist in the 2017 International Society of Bassists Jazz Performance competition.
Ben is a founding member of “Mr Chair,” a contemporary ensemble of electronic trombone (Mark Hetzler), keyboard (Jason Kutz), percussion (Mike Koszewski) and electronic upright bass. As a sideman Ben performs with Darren Sterud, Nuggernaut (jazz-funk), The Jon Hoel Trio (original compositions with saxophone led trio), Gabe Burdulis Band (Nashville based original pop/rock music), as well as a number of performances in the classical, jazz, rock and contemporary music scenes.
A student of NEA Jazz Master Richard Davis, he graduated with a music-education degree from UW-Madison. He recently completed a Masters Degree in String Performance with Peter Dominguez at UW-Madison where he is currently pursuing a DMA in String Performance. Ben is the project assistant for the "Bridge Ensemble," a combined string quartet and jazz quartet that travels to do clinics and performances in public schools.
As an educator, Ben teaches a studio of private bass students, and has taught K-12 general music, songwriting, strings and jazz ensembles in public schools for seven years. He is on the board of directors and faculty for the Richard Davis Foundation for Young Bassists. More info can be found on his website, www.bferrisbass.com.
Ben is a NS (Ned Steinberger) Artist and plays an NS CR5M bass.
Based in Madison, Jason Kutz performs, teaches, and composes all styles of music. He is rooted in contemporary music and improvisation, often fusing classical piano styles with jazz and electronic synthesis.
He is a founding member of Mr. Chair, an innovative and inimitable ensemble that plays music in its own style. Two forthcoming albums produced by Mr. Chair will release 2024. Sirena, with singer Leslie Damaso and saxophonist Jon Irabagon, is an operatic stage-work using modern arrangements of kundiman (Filipino art songs). Spectaculous is an otherworldly, orchestral hip-hop album with singer Dequadray White. Mr. Chair released two albums of original music with trombonist Mark Hetzler – Better Days (2023) and Nebulebula (2019).
In 2023 he started Wonderporium, which is a fully-improvised, electronic/ambient music collective. He joins Louka playing original “”roots crossover”” (bluegrass/country/jazz).
Jason is a commissioned composer and an avid producer, arranger, and gamer. More info can be found on his website, https://jasonkutz.com