GREG WARD’S ROGUE PARADE
(Booking in North America)
LINEUP:
Greg Ward - alto saxophone, Dave Miller - guitar, Matt Gold - guitar, Matt Ulery - bass, and Quin Kirchner - drums.
TOUR:
2025 - Available upon request
2026 - Available upon request
NEW ALBUM:
DION’S QUEST - RELEASED FEB 2023 ON SUGAHOOF RECORDS!
PREVIOUS ALBUM:
GREG WARD PRESENTS ROGUE PARADE: STOMPING OFF FROM GREENWOOD (JANUARY 2019, GREENLEAF MUSIC)
“Stomping Off From Greenwood” selected as one of the best jazz albums of 2019 by: Chicago Tribune, Downbeat, and The Wall Street Journal.
“Ward has been turning in important work on record and in concert for years. The “Stomping Off from Greenwood” music stands as his newest high point.”
VIDEOS:
BIO:
Greenleaf Music is proud to announce the January 11th release of Stomping Off From Greenwood, the fourth album from alto saxophonist and composer Greg Ward. Considered one of the most versatile saxophonists of his generation, the bandleader, composer and arranger is proud to launch his new group Rogue Parade with the release of this new album. A quintet of heavyweight creative Chicago musicians, Rogue Parade features guitarists Matt Gold and Dave Miller, bassist Matt Ulery and drummer Quin Kirchner. Stomping Off From Greenwood follows his critically acclaimed Greenleaf debut Touch My Beloved’s Thought (2016), which focused on the music of Charles Mingus.
Having earned wide acclaim as a sideman with artists like Prefuse 73, Lupe Fiasco, Tortoise, William Parker, Andrew D'Angelo, and Mike Reed, Greg Ward is now excited to introduce his wide-spanning audience to his new, innovative group, Rogue Parade. Following a 2016 performance at The Whistler, as part of Relax Attack Jazz Series, Rogue Parade was approached by the Chicago club to present a month-long residency. The ensemble honed their sound by following this residency with an extensive Midwest tour, before heading into the studio to capture their collective energy on record. This nine-track collection explores Rogue Parade’s unique two guitar instrumentation and ultimately blends the sonic worlds of acoustic and electronic.
In the lead up to the release of Stomping Off From Greenwood, Ward is excited to release three singles from the album: “Metropolis”, “The Contender” and “Excerpt 1”. Due to be released on November 30th, “Metropolis” will simultaneously mark the album’s pre-release. Inspired by the time Ward spent in Chicago and New York, “Metropolis” serves as an ode to the many life-changing experiences the saxophonist has encountered in both of these vibrant cities. During his time in Chicago, Ward worked with the International Contemporary Ensemble, the Chicago Symphony Orchestra's Chamber Music Series, and was commissioned by the Jazz Institute of Chicago for a new composition, which was performed at the Chicago Jazz Festival in 2009. Upon moving to New York, the Illinois-native also received a commission/residency from the popular NYC Jazz Gallery. These two metropolitan cities have continued to inform Ward’s creativity. The NIU-graduate enthuses, “on this recording, I hope you can feel the energy that I experience on a daily basis living in a place where so many different lives and perspectives are intertwined.” This track features a duet by guitarists Dave Miller and Matt Gold and leads to a trio with Ward on alto saxophone.
The second single, due to be released on December 14th is titled “The Contender”. Although Ward has always made time in his routine for exercise, it was only recently that he delved into boxing. Featuring a solo from both Wardand Matt Gold, “The Contender” translates some of the saxophonist’s boxing combinations into music.
The third single from the album, “Excerpt 1” is due to be released onDecember 28th and represents an important ritual included in the composer’s daily routine. Ward understands the importance of developing his current compositional talents and so, makes a conscious effort to compose something, however short or long, almost every day. “Usually, I'm just working on thematic development of some sort with hopes of coming out with even a small fragment that's worth turning into a new piece. Sometimes, a short thought presents itself. “Excerpt 1” is one of these”, Ward explains.
With the support of receiving an Individual Artist Grant from the Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events in Chicago, Greg Ward is excited to present Rogue Parade on Stomping Off From Greenwood, the ensemble’s debut studio recording. The group will celebrate this music at The Green Mill, Chicago on January 11th & 12th.
PRESS:
GIOVANNI RUSSONELLO
THE NEW YORK TIMES
"Ward bobs gracefully through a coolly plotted improvisation on “The Contender” as his rhythm section handles a stop-and-start polyrhythm, creating friction and expectation and the illusion of an incline for Ward to climb." Check out "The Contender" on The Playlist here.
MICHELLE MERCER
NPR
"This album welcomes everyone to hear their own impressions of the music. Ward’s Stomping Off From Greenwood has all the excellence of modern jazz without a hint of the grandiosity. You can make your imagination at home here." Check it out here.
MARTIN JOHNSON
WALL STREET JOURNAL
"It’s as if mountains and rivers are inspiring the music as much as the metropolises that the saxophonist has called home." Read the full review here.
TROY COLLINS
POINT OF DEPARTURE
"Accessible but adventurous, Stomping Off From Greenwood is the latest indication of Ward’s growth as a bandleader, composer, and improviser. Imbued with the exploratory fervor of Chicago’s finest, Rogue Parade gracefully negotiates the tenuous divide between progressive jazz and the city’s current avant-rock scene." Full review here.
DAVE CANTOR
DOWNBEAT
"Saxophonist Greg Ward turns in a program that’s as eclectic as it is electric with Stomping Off From Greenwood." Read the full EDITORS PICK piece here.
HOWARD REICH
CHICAGO TRIBUNE
Ace Chicago sax man Greg Ward celebrates his Rogue Parade. Full feature here.
DANIELE CAMERLENGO
SUONO (ITALY)
"In the nine tracks that make up the album there are the characteristic features of the intimate and sensitive treasures of Ward's musical life." Read the full Italian review here.
IAN WARD
UK VIBE
"It’s a heady mix of cerebral, heartfelt, hopeful, exploratory and inclusive. It focuses and uplifts. Musicanship is tophole." Read the full review here.
SÉBASTIEN HÉLARY
NEXTBOP
"The composition serves as an ode to the many life-changing experiences the saxophonist has encountered in both of these vibrant cities." Listen to the track premiere for "Metropolis" here.
GARETH THOMPSON
ALL ABOUT JAZZ
"Stomping Off From Greenwood sings with a depth of harmony to crack the hardest heart." Read the full review here.
MATT MICUCCI
JAZZIZ
"...one of the most versatile saxophonists of his generation..." Check out the full track premiere for "Stardust" here.
THE DELI MAGAZINE - CHICAGO
Read the full feature here.
RICHARD B. KAMINS
STEP TEMPEST
“… the music they make is notable for its irresistible forward motion and Ward's delightful melodic flow." Read the full review here.
FILIPE FREITAS
JAZZ TRAIL
"In this recording, Ward’s appealing jazz-centered music takes several directions, achieving cohesiveness as a whole." Full review here.
HOWARD REICH
CHICAGO TRIBUNE
"Ward has been turning in important work on record and in concert for years. The “Stomping Off from Greenwood” music stands as his newest high point." Concert review here.
NATE CHINEN
WBGO
"Greg Ward is a Chicago-based alto saxophonist who knows how to reconcile different elements: acoustic and electronic, precise and volatile, inside and “out.” He has an arresting new album, Stomping Off From Greenwood, that brings this gift into clear focus, with a batch of new compositions for the band he calls Rogue Parade." Full feature here.
MIKE WEST
BANDCAMP DAILY
"...the band’s interplay gestures beyond that storied starting point; its sound—intricate and yet edgy, melodic but distorted, with stomping rhythms and a confrontational mien—has as much in common with proto-punkers Television as with post-rockers Tortoise. It’s a zesty development—and, despite its three-piece command crew, a thoroughly individual one for Ward et al." Album of the Day feature here.
PHIL FREEMAN
BURNING AMBULANCE
"It’s one of the best albums of the young year." Read the full review here.
MATT MICUCCI
JAZZIZ
Read: 10 New Jazz Albums You Need to Know About in January 2019
RON SCHEPPER
TEXTURA
"Armed with a bright, smooth tone and agile delivery, Ward's versatility is well-accounted for, yet while he's front and center (and the composer of all but one tune plus the arranger) the album plays like a group effort in the fullest sense." Read the full review here.
DAVE SUMNER
BANDCAMP
"...Ward deftly applies a delicate touch to a big sound, and by manipulating an uneasy alliance between brutish and eccentric expressions, the alto saxophonist manifests a work of a curiously riveting grace." Read the full feature here.
KEVIN COULTAS
IN ON THE CORNER
"Stomping Off From Greenwoodcontains super-catchy tunes, conveys a wide breadth of moods, and it is just a total blast to listen to." Read the full review here.
HILARY BROWN
DOWNBEAT
"...an autobiographical account of a musician straddling the musical hotbeds of New York and Chicago. "Stomping" is everything a listener could ask for in a recording - and in a city." Read the full review here.
HRAYR ATTARIAN
CHICAGO JAZZ MAGAZINE
"Stomping Off From Greenwood is one of those rare recording that is explorative yet accessible, cerebral without sacrificing the emotive and simultaneously intimate and expansive. In sum it is a mature and refreshingly original work." Read full review here.
JAZZ DESK
"It is a band with a lot of potential and this album by Ward leaves me interested in where he will go from here." Read the full review here.
JEROME WILSON
ALL ABOUT JAZZ
"His results may be not "jazz" in the usual sense, but they do make for a creative blending of genres and styles that results in fresh and intriguing music." Read the full 4-star review here.
JOHN FREDERICK MOORE
JAZZIZ
"From beginning to end, Ward and company have pulled off a work that’s as immensely pleasurable as it is conceptually daring." Read the full review here.
DAVID WHITEIS
JAZZTIMES
"Ward’s breath-softened, woody tone sustains a bedrock of naturalness even as he breaks into unfettered flights, tempered on occasion by a pristine, neo-classical precision—a blend of fearlessness, merriment, pathos, and perhaps a measure or two of irony." Read the full review here.
