Music
Press
"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
"This is a revealing study in immense assurance & total artistic lyricism...With a bent towards the imaginative...The adventurous....The deliberate...The open-minded."
-George W. Carroll/The Musicians' Ombudsman
"...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
“...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
“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
“No longhair abstract jazz purist, Udden’s music comes across as melodic and accessible.”
-Rick Foster, The Sun Chronicle
- Village Voice, Boston Globe, Irish Times, etc.
"Udden steals the record; his sound is unearthly...His sound is so pure that I had to remind myself it was a reed..."
- Budd Kopman, Cadence Magazine
"..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, Either/Orchestra
- Cadence, Downbeat, The Monitor (Uganda), etc.
Discography
torchsongs (FSNT-253)
Fresh Sound New Talent
with: Bob Brookmeyer, Ben Monder, Matt Wilson, John Lockwood, Ziv Ravitz, Leo Genovese, Garth Stevenson, Nathan Blehar
20 albums as a sideman on CIMP, Innova, Accurate, Buda Musique, Creative Nation, Moon, etc.
Complete discography available at jeremyudden.com
Photos
Bio
Currently working on his second Fresh Sound New Talent (Spain) release, Uddens debut as a leader "torchsongs" (FSNT-253) was hailed a small wonder, full of color and daring by Jim Macnie of the Village Voice. The record features Bob Brookmeyer, Matt Wilson, Ben Monder, and others performing Uddens unique brand of melodic jazz/rock meets the avante garde, including nine originals and covers by the Bangles and Uddens teacher, Steve Lacy.
Long-time member of the Grammy nominated Either/Orchestra (Miguel Zenon, Matt Wilson, and John Mediski 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 (CIMP, Buda Musique, Accurate, etc.) 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 New York).
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 "Plainvile Music" features a more folk-influenced twist, finding a niche on bills with country and folk groups as well as jazz.
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