Chad McCullough
the charm of impossibilities
the charm of impossibilities
Trumpet player and composer Chad McCullough’s fascination with the unique musical mind of Olivier Messiaen was sparked 20 years ago when he first heard the composer’s seminal work, Quator pour la fin du temps (Quartet for the end of time), scored in 1940 by Messiaen for a chamber ensemble comprised of his fellow prisoners in a German camp. “It’s so complex in structure, yet still accessible to the casual listener and completely overwhelming emotionally,” comments McCullough. He has long been interested in utilizing Messiaen’s compositional process as laid out in the composer’s Techniques of My Musical Language, but wanted to “filter them through a setting where the result would yield music that would be conducive to improvisation.” No small task, but on The Charm of Impossibilities McCullough and company deliver on that promise with clarity and conviction.
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, The Charm of Impossibilities was released in the Fall of 2023 to rave reviews. It was one of the inaugural releases on the Calligram Records (a label that McCullough co-owns with Geof Bradfield). His previous album Forward was released in the Fall of 2020, and was featured in several “Best Jazz Releases of the year” lists, including the Chicago Tribune, and All About Jazz.
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 five 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 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 and trumpets, and a Hub Van Laar 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