Berklee Joel Ross Ensemble

The Signature Series presents vibraphone master, composer, and educator Joel Ross leading the Berklee Joel Ross Ensemble. A Blue Note artist of the critically acclaimed releases KingMaker (2019), Who Are You? (2020) and The Parable of the Poet (2022), Ross regularly tops the DownBeat and Jazz Journalists Association Critics Polls for his work in the broad lineage of Black music that pulls from jazz, hip-hop, church, and Chicago improvised music. 

Now based in Brooklyn, the Chicago-born artist performs across the globe, collaborating with Makaya McCraven, Walter Smith III, Georgia Anne Muldrow, Wynton Marsalis, Rajna Swaminathan, Marcus Gilmore, Brandee Younger, and Marquis Hill. As a leader, he has performed at The Village Vanguard and Dizzy’s Club in New York, The Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C., the Newport Jazz Festival, the Umbria Jazz Festival in Umbria, Italy, and the North Sea Jazz Festival in The Netherlands. His recent tour included dates at Triennale di Milano in Italy; Ronnie Scott’s in London; Le Duc des Lombards in Paris; and Halle 424 in Germany, among other international venues. Matthew Stevens, associate professor of ensemble, will be directing the ensemble.