Drew Gress is one of the defining bassists of contemporary improvised music's working core — the call for Tim Berne, Ralph Alessi, Uri Caine, Ravi Coltrane, Fred Hersch, John Hollenbeck, Tony Malaby, Marc Copland, Bill Carrothers, Mat Maneri, Simon Nabatov — while leading his own bands from Joint Venture on Enja in the early 90s through Jagged Sky, Spin & Drift, and 7 Black Butterflies, the Spin & Drift quartet earning the Guardian's pick for London's best jazz concert of 2002, with residencies at the St. Petersburg Conservatory and University of Colorado-Boulder and support from SESAC, the NEA, and Meet the Composer. He lives in New York.