Following their stunning world premiere at The Stone in NYC in September 2025, Mark Dresser’s Gradience Quartet makes its highly anticipated debut at the Angel City Jazz Refractions. Bringing together a strikingly unconventional instrumentation, the ensemble fluidly blurs the boundaries of genre and traditional musical parameters. Yet, beyond the structural innovation of their compositions, the defining force of this quartet is their profound emotional and improvisational synergy. Their performance promises a rare, captivating chemistry where distinct sonic worlds merge with breathtaking intimacy and power.

Mark Dresser is a Grammy nominated, internationally renowned bass player, improviser, and composer. At the core of his music is an obsession and commitment to expanding the sonic, musical, and expressive possibilities of the contrabass. He has recorded over one hundred-fifty CDs including ten CDs as composer/bandleader, seven solo recordings and a DVD. His solo recording, “Tines of Change” was listed in the “Best Recordings of 2023” by Downbeat Magazine. His latest, solo recording In the Shadow of A Mad King features a duo with the late great poet Jerome Rothenberg, (Tzadik 2024).

“Calling contrabassist Mark Dresser a virtuoso is like saying Albert Einstein was good at math.”

— San Diego City Times

“Mr. Dresser, a bassist who is one of the great instrumental forces in recent American jazz outside of the mainstream…”

— the New York Times

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