Ulysses Owens Jr.

Three time GRAMMY™ Award-Winning Drummer Ulysses Owens Jr., known for being a drummer who (The New York Times) has said “take[s] a back seat to no one,” and “a musician who balances excitement gracefully and shines with innovation.”

Performer, producer and educator Ulysses Owens Jr. goes the limit in the jazz world and beyond; claiming eight successful albums of his own. Owens has also gained special attention for his performances on GRAMMY Award-winning albums by Kurt Elling and The Christian McBride Big Band. In 2023; he received his 3rd GRAMMY Award for his participation on the album featuring Steven Feiftke, Bijon Watson and the Generation Gap Jazz Orchestra. 

Both Jazziz and Rolling Stone Magazines picked his album “Songs of Freedom,” as a Top Ten Album for 2019 and in 2021; his most recent Big Band release, “Soul Conversations,” was voted the top album in May 2021 by JazzIz Magazine. “Soul Conversations,” received rave reviews and was added to multiple playlists on Apple Music, Spotify, and Sirius XM; and now the band is touring nationally. The Ulysses Owens Jr. Big Band has also been voted “Rising Star Big Band ” of 2022 by Downbeat Magazine. 

His eighth and recent album release, A New Beat features his new “Generation Y” Band on the Cellar Live Record label. The album was produced by Jeremy Pelt and recorded at the legendary Rudy Van Gelder Studios. Jazziz Magazine voted “A New Beat” as one of “10 Albums You Need to Know in 2024,” and the album has been added to multiple playlists on Apple Music, Spotify, Amazon Music, and Tidal streaming platforms. “A New Beat,” was also #1 on the Jazz Week Radio Charts for 8 Weeks from mid February-April. The band just returned from performing at the Cotton Club in Tokyo, a Summer Canadian Jazz Festival Tour, and concluded their travel at the Monterey Jazz Festival in September.

Most recently “Gen Y” just created the viral video “COVERS/Gen Y Plays Nirvana” for Musora Media on Youtube garnering over 3.5 Million views. Due to the success of the video, they will be releasing their arrangement of the cover song “Heart-Shaped Box” by Nirvana on the Cellar Live label in November. They are also preparing to record their second album in January 2025..

As an author Ulysses has published two books titled: Jazz Brushes for the Modern Drummer: An Essential Guide to the Art of Keeping Time, and “The Musicians Career Guide: Turning Your Talent into Sustained Success, distributed by Simon and Schuster. His third book, Jazz Big Band for the Modern Drummer: The Essential Guide to the Large Ensemble, for Hal Leonard Publications was released in January, 2024 and won the “Editor’s Pick” award for Musicians Inc Magazine at NAMM 2024 in Anaheim California.

Ulysses is also a regular contributing writer for the WJCT Jacksonville Music Experience, Downbeat Magazine, Jazz Times Magazine, Percussive Arts Journal, Not So Modern Drummer blog, and an Op- Ed contributor the Florida Times Union Newspaper. His writing was recently featured in the New York Times (May 2024) article by Marcus J. Moore titled, “5 Things That Will Make You Love Jazz Bass;” where he wrote about his long-time musical relationship with Christian McBride. He was fortunate to be asked by famed writer Giovanni Russonello to pen his second article for the New York Times (September 2024) titled,”5 Minutes that Will Make You Love Big Band Jazz.”

As an educator Ulysses has been part the jazz faculty at The Juilliard School as Small Ensemble Director for over seven years ; served on the EDIB (Equity, Diversity, Inclusion, and Belonging) committee. He has also served on multiple panels, and taught various workshops within the Alan D. Marks Entrepreneurship division. He is also the Artistic Director for his family’s arts non-profit organization in Jacksonville, Florida called  “Don’t Miss A Beat,” whose mission is to enlighten and activate kids through Musical Theatre and Civic Engagement at the DMAB Community Arts Center in Jacksonville Florida. He has also recently been asked to join the Drumeo Online Educational Platform as their Inaugural Jazz Drum Instructor and is developing the curriculum for his interactive course, “30 Day Jazz Drummer,” that will launch in November, 2024.

Ulysses is also the creator of multiple online jazz drum video courses: Jazz Drumming 101 (Mini-Course) for Drumeo; “Finding Your Beat,” “The Art of Swing” and "Jazz Drumming 101” for Open Studio. Ulysses was also host of the highly successful weekly live YouTube series, “From The Drummer’s Perspective.”

As a Cultural Entrepreneur, Ulysses has been awarded the “Difference Maker” Award from Beacon College, the “Robert Arleigh White Advocacy Award” from the Cultural Council of Northeast Florida; and has been multi-year recipient of the Individual Artist Grant from the Community Foundation of Northeast Florida. He was also honored with the 2023 Ann Baker McDonald Art Ventures award from the Community Foundation of Northeast Florida, selected as 40 Under 40 by Jacksonville Business Journal in 2022, and part of the 2023 Leadership Jacksonville class.

Ulysses is currently making his Broadway Debut at the request of Grammy Award Winning Musician, Composer, and Orchestrator, Branford Marsalis and producer David Lai. He is the Drummer for the production “A Wonderful World: The Louis Armstrong Musical,” that opens on November 11th at Studio 54 Theatre in New York City.

He remains consistently in demand for new projects, and consulting opportunities,; remaining one of the most sought-after thought-leaders of his generation. Yet what matters to him consistently is giving back and continuing to be grateful for a new day to make a difference in the lives of others.