Jeremy Udden

Long-time member of the Grammy nominated Either/Orchestra (Matt Wilson, John Mediski and Miguel Zenon among other alumni), Udden recorded three albums with the band and toured Europe, Africa, and around the US a number of times. Twenty records to his credit as a sideman (Accurate, CIMP, Creative Nation Music, Fresh Sound New Talent, Innova) with projects in the jazz, avante-garde, rock, pop, and world music genres, has helped give his music a “wealth of texture and invention” (Terrell Kent Holmes, All About Jazz).

A Boston native and Brooklyn resident, Udden performs his Torchsongs project frequently around New York, the Northeast, and in the past year the West Coast, China, and Scandinavia. His newer Plainville features a more folk-influenced twist, finding a niche on bills with country and folk groups as well as jazz.

Winner of the 2003 Fish-Middleton Jazz Competition in Washington, D.C. and a 2005 ASCAP Young Composer Award finalist, he recently performed at Carnegie Hall's Merkin Hall with Joe Lovano, Dave Leibman and Irene Aebi in tribute to Steve Lacy, and as a guest soloist with Gunther Schuller and the Pro Arte Chamber Orchestra of Boston at Harvard's Sanders Theater.

Udden also performs with Dominique Eade, the Jazz Composer's Alliance, Monika Heidamann, i am the color of dead leaves, Andy Green, Sofia Koutsovitis, Michael Winnograd's Infection, Bruno Raberg and Mulatu Estatke. Over the years, he has shared the stage or studio with Mahmoud Ahmed, Steve Lacy, The Presidents of the United States of America, Juliana Hatfield, Sam Rivers, Maria Schnieder, the Miracle Orchestra, Darcy James Argue, Charlie Kolhase, Tony Malaby, Bill McHenry, John McNeil, John Hollenbeck, to name a few and too many wonderful musicians in New York, Boston, California, Sweden, Italy, Maine, Washington, China, Portugal and Africa to name.

Originally from Plainville, Massachusetts, Udden started playing the saxophone at age 10, and began performing regularly on the Boston club scene at 15 with Big Lick, an eight-piece ska/punk band with two albums and a few US tours to its credit. In high school he was also a member of the All-American Grammy Band. In 1996 he moved to Boston to study with Allan Chase, Jerry Bergonzi, George Garzone, Paul Bley, Charlie Banacos, Steve Lacy, Danilo Perez, Fred Hersch, and Bob Brookmeyer at the New England Conservatory. He joined the E/O before graduating and later moved to New York in 2005.

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Album Reviews

Belleville Project by Glenn Astarita

Interviews

Jeremy Udden: Far From Plain

Album Reviews

If the Past Seems So Bright by Troy Collins
Plainville by AAJ Italy Staff
Plainville by Jeff Dayton-Johnson
Plainville by Eyal Hareuveni
Plainville by Troy Collins
Torchsongs by Michael P. Gladstone
Torchsongs by Terrell Kent Holmes

”...a distinctive soprano and alto saxophonist with a gorgeous tone and a subtly personal lyricism... Udden ranges from the linear grace of Keith Jarrett-like songs, through equally melodic jazz/rock to some very focused free playing. Somehow, despite his gentle approach, his sheer musical presence imposes a kind of unity on what emerges...Udden lays down a marker as a player who deserves to be much better known.” --Ray Comiskey, The Irish Times, 4 stars

“With his beautiful, round soprano tone, saxophonist Udden lends a haunting sheen to tunes spanning the soothingly melodic to the jaggedly free.” --Modern Drummer

“...echoes of reedman Jimmy Giuffre on those early tracks, in their calm, quiet accessibility..

“With his beautiful, round soprano tone, saxophonist Udden lends a haunting sheen to tunes spanning the soothingly melodic to the jaggedly free.” --Modern Drummer

“...echoes of reedman Jimmy Giuffre on those early tracks, in their calm, quiet accessibility... The package coheres nicely, and shows a side of Udden not much on display with the Either/Orchestra - one both cooler and more pop-oriented.” --Bill Beuttler, Boston Globe

“No longhair abstract jazz purist, Udden's music comes across as melodic and accessible.” --Rick Foster, The Sun Chronicle

“After the acoustic-jazz openers, the album takes a sharp left turn on 'Fish Lake' with two electric guitars (Tim Miller and Ben Monder) and Fender Rhodes keyboard (Leo Genovese). With it's broad, majestic guitar chords and emphatic backbeat, it's one of the albums standouts.” --Jon Garelick, Boston Phoenix

“The Boston soprano player has earned kudos in New England, impressing Either/Orchestra fans with a lithe sound and insightful solos. His Torchsongs is a small wonder, full of color and daring.” --Jim Macnie, Village Voice

“A hush settles as Jeremy Udden, with that unearthly tone of his, takes a solo with just pianist Greg Burk and some quiet drumming behind him. The solo is quite abstract and could easily be accepted as advanced jazz. The percussion starts coalescing and the tension rises, Udden starts playing multiphonics, the band plays interjections behind him, and the music on the pedal point reaches an almost excruciating tension until the main tune reappears again to wild applause.” --Budd Kopman, All About Jazz

“..the furiously pased 'Fast Edd'...was absolutely made by the seemingly unquenchable sound of Jeremy Udden (small man, big sound!) on alto saxophone.” --Philip Songa, The Moniter (Kampala, Uganda)

“...Yezemed Yebada had E/O venturing past cross-cultural research to forge a triad of Latin grooves over which alto player Jeremy Udden soloed in near-rapture...” --Frank-John Hadley, Downbeat Magazine

“Udden revealed keen instincts...underplaying or hitting hard at the right moments.” --Bob Blumenthal, Boston Globe

“...Jeremy Udden's alto sax solo set a tropical mood, prompting one woman in a red satin skirt to wiggle onto the dance floor.” --Larry Appelbaum, JazzTimes

“His gift is quite rare. He has his own approach, with a clearly and rapidly growing development taking shape...leading perhaps, to an important synthesis of styles, and a highly personal improvising language.” --Steve Lacy

“...[Udden] is among the best players in town...” --Jon Garelick, Boston Phoenix

“Udden has a touch of Ornette grafted onto contemporary chromatic modalities and a little of the tone of Lee Konitz.” --Grego Applegate Edwards, Cadence Magazine

“His playing is full of surprises and passion. Jeremy is very creative and is developing a personal approach from a variety of models.” --Russ Gershon, Accurate Records

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Primary Instrument

Saxophone

Clinic/Workshop Information

"With audiences, fellow musicians, or students, it's all the same. It's about sharing music and putting something good into the world, and I am grateful for the opportunity to do this every day." --Jeremy Udden An experienced educator, Jeremy Udden has given clinics with the Either/Orchestra at the Yared Music School (Addis Abbaba, Ethiopia), The Jazz School (Yaroslavl, Russia), University of Vermont, Keen State College, Lawrence University, University of Iowa, Cleveland State University, and Webster University