Ben Ferris - Solo Bass

Ben Ferris - Solo Bass

Ben Ferris is a Bassist, Composer and Educator from Madison, WI. Ben performs regularly in the midwest, especially with the Ben Ferris Trio, a creative music ensemble that focuses on new compositions by musicians in the band. His group the Ben Ferris Quintet released their debut album, “Home” in 2016 featuring original compositions by Ben and other members of the ensemble. He also leads the Ben Ferris Octet, a group that plays a diverse selection of jazz repertoire. Ben competed as a finalist in the 2017 International Society of Bassists Jazz Performance competition. Ben is a founding member of "Mr. Chair," a contemporary piano trio with Jason Kutz and Michael Koszewski. They recently released their third album, “Rhapsody in Blue” featuring a re-imagination of the Gershwin classic alongside original music. Recently, the musicians of Mr. Chair joined multi-hyphen artist DeQuadray White to form "Spectaculous," a group that encapsulates elements of hip-hop, funk, rock, R&B and pop culture influences to build a dynamic world of cosmic whimsy.

A student of NEA Jazz Master Richard Davis, he graduated with a music-education degree from UW-Madison. He recently completed a Masters Degree in String Performance with Peter Dominguez at UW-Madison where he is currently pursuing a DMA in String Performance. Ben is the project assistant for the "Bridge Ensemble," a combined string quartet and jazz quartet that travels to do clinics and performances in public schools.