Chad McCullough
in these hills, beyond
in these hills, beyond
Reflecting on IN THESE HILLS, BEYOND, trumpeter and composer Chad McCullough says “this album is a celebration of life, but it wasn’t planned that way. I just wanted to play great music with my friends, as lofty a goal as I have most of the time. However, the recent passing of my grandfather just before the tour added more weight to everything.” On the road with his quintet last year, McCullough realized midway through the second concert that it was his grandfather’s birthday. “It brought home the importance of being surrounded by good friends and family both to grieve and to celebrate life.” In these hills, beyond documents the band’s last two nights of the run at the North Street Cabaret in Madison, Wisconsin, capturing a level of musical communication and camaraderie that can only develop through a band playing night after night on the road.
About Chad
Hailed for his “stunning, chilled lyricism and compositional acuity” by Downbeat Magazine, 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 – a live offering capturing the trumpeter in top flight, In These Hills, Beyond was released in the Fall of 2024 to rave reviews, with All About Jazz calling it “his best playing of his career.”
He is a member of the genre-bending international group Atlantic Road Trip, and their debut album ONE can also be found on Calligram Records. Over the past four years the group has been collaborating on large-scale works and toured in eight countries.
His bands have performed at many festivals, including the Festival of New Trumpet Music (New York), the GG Jazz Festival (Russia), Chicago Jazz Festival, The Islay Jazz Festival (Scotland), The Earshot Jazz Festival (Seattle), Halifax Jazz Festival, and The Appeltuin Jazz Festival (Belgium). His albums have been released internationally on Calligram, Origin Records, ears&eyes records, Monks and Thieves, and Shifting Paradigm. He’s a frequent collaborator with many musicians/ensembles, including groups with; Bram Weijters, Matt Ulery, Dana Hall, Ryan Shultz, Luke Malewicz, James Davis, Rob Clearfield, and Tim Hagans and has performed with Maria Schneider, 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.
In 2009 he participated in the jazz & creative music workshop at the Banff Centre in Canada. He was awarded a DCASE grant for an intensive study with Grammy-nominated trumpeter Tim Hagans from the City of Chicago, and is currently on the jazz faculty at DePaul University and the University of Wisconsin – Madison. Chad plays custom AR Resonance mouthpieces, trumpets, and four-valve flugelhorn.
… IS A RARE INSTRUMENTALIST WHO MAKES EACH NOTE SOUND AS IF IT WERE IMBUED WITH A DEEPER MEANING. HIS APPROACH IS ONE THAT IS MEASURED AND DELIBERATE, OFTEN INTROSPECTIVE, SOMETIMES GORGEOUSLY MELANCHOLIC, AND ONE THAT EMPLOYS A CONTINUITY OF MOOD AND ATMOSPHERE …
DAN MCCLENAGHAN
Bram Weijters & Chad McCullough Duo
Bram Weijters & Chad McCullough Duo
Different But The Same / from the album FEATHER