Grammy-Award winning drummer and musical director Ulysses Owens, Jr., will return to Dizzy’s Club Coca-Cola from April 28-30 to take part in Jazz at Lincoln Center’s Ella Fitzgerald Festival. He will lead a notable ensemble consisting of pianist Allyn Johnson, trumpeter Alphonso Horne, and bassist Alex Claffy, with featured vocalists Brianna Thomas and Alyson Williams.
Of his group's upcoming performance at the Ella Fitzgerald Festival, Owens states “I first fell in love with Ella's voice in my teens. Since then I have always had an affinity for working with singers because I am musically most influenced by the voice. I am so thrilled to be able to pay tribute to the Queen of Jazz Voice with this wonderful band and vocalists. We plan to play our hearts out for our audiences nightly and give them 'All Sides of Ella’!"
Viewed as one of his generation’s leading instrumentalist and band leaders, Owens has frequently appeared at Jazz at Lincoln Center in various capacities other than that of a featured artist and distinguished sideman. In 2016, he produced a memorable program entitled Songs of Freedom within the center's Appel Room, which was cited by the New York Times for its message of “hope and progress.” He has also served as the music curator for various performance venues and cultural institutions in New York such as Abyssinian Baptist Church’s Jazz Vesper Series, and the Museum of Modern Art’s Summergarden Series, and has produced performances at Park Avenue Armory Conservancy and provided musical curation for Minton’s Playhouse in Harlem.