Heralded for his “solos of mercurial poetry and high craft,” (Chicago Tribune) Chicago-based trumpeter/composer Chad McCullough is active throughout the world. Dan McClenaghan writes, “He is a rare instrumentalist who makes each note sound as if it were imbued with a deeper meaning. Certainly a player with great chops, his approach is one that is measured and deliberate, often introspective, sometimes gorgeously melancholic, and one that employs a continuity of mood and atmosphere …”
His latest album, Forward was made available in the Fall of 2020. Featuring the stellar trio of Matt Ulery, Rob Clearfield, and Jon Deitemyer, with post-production orchestration and programming by Ryan Cohan, it will be available on the Outside In Music label. This will be his 15th album as a leader or co-leader.
He has led ensembles at many festivals, including the Festival of New Trumpet Music (New York), the GG Jazz Festival (Russia), Chicago Jazz Festival, The Earshot Jazz Festival (Seattle), Halifax Jazz Festival, and The Lier Jazz Festival (Belgium). His albums have been released internationally on Origin Records, ears&eyes records, Monks and Thieves, Outside In Music, and Shifting Paradigm. He has has performed with Maria Schneider, Tim Hagans, Miguel Zenon, Stafford James, Michael Shrieve, Avishai Cohen, Kendrick Scott, Claudio Roditi, Chad Lefkowitz-Brown, Charles Tolliver, Ambrose Akinmuserie, Steve Coleman, Dave Douglas, and many more.
Chad holds a MM from the University of Washington, and a BM from the University of Idaho, where he was a Lionel Hampton Scholar, and was the first student to graduate with a jazz emphasis on his degree. In 2009 he participated in the jazz & creative music workshop at the Banff Centre in Canada. He was host of the 2019 Carmine Caruso International Jazz Trumpet Competition at DePaul University. He was awarded a DCASE grant for an intensive study with Grammy-nominated trumpeter Tim Hagans from the City of Chicago, and one for his album, Forward. Chad plays custom AR Resonance mouthpieces and trumpets, and a Hub Van Laar flugelhorn.
Learn more on the Jazz Studies Studio Page