Matt Ulery holds a very close relation of artistic complicity with some of the emergent musicians of Chicago’s jazz scene, and the ensemble of instrumentalists which forms the project Delicate Charms is a direct consequence of that proximity. The pianist Rob Clearfield, the saxophonist Greg Ward and the drummer Quin Kirchner are young and versatile musicians with a solid reputation within the highly-demanding jazz circuit of the capital of Illinois, having collaborated in the past with important figures of contemporary music.

Rob Clearfield is a prolific musician who, besides his work as leader, has worked with some of the great names of Chicago’s jazz scene, such as Ernest Dawkins, Marquis Hill and Patricia Barber, among others. Greg Ward maintains a relevant activity as instrumentalist and as composer, having collaborated in the past in several projects alongside with musicians such as William Parker and Andrew D’Angelo. Quin Kirchner is a prolific and talented drummer, composer and DJ with a significant background of collaborations with important jazz musicians, such as Rob Mazurek and Jeb Bishop, among others. Delicate Charm’s line-up includes also the skilled violinist Zach Brock who, despite his youth, is already considered one of the most promising names of North-American jazz, having been rewarded with a Grammy due to his work as a member of the band Snarky Puppy and the artistic partnerships with Phil Markowitz and Stanley Clarke, among others. Although is not a native of Chicago, Brock has been collaborating intensely with musicians from that city.

Delicate Charms’ reflects the idiosyncratic and versatile musical identity of its leader. Matt Ulery is a restless composer with a specific approach to jazz music which led him to explore other musical territories (for example, his collaboration with the guitarist Goran Ivanovic) and to establish artistic partnerships with musicians of different geographical provenances (such is the case of the Polis vocalist Grazyna Auguscik). The project Delicate Charms is faithful to Ulery’s artistic principles: the aim to create expressive music, based on non-conventional phrases and melodies, capable of absorbing and potentiating the contribution of the interpreters of his compositions, therefore achieving levels of universality and authenticity that are rarely seen in the music of the third millennium.