Committed
to exploring the boundaries of notated and improvised music,
Fred
Hess
attended the Creative Music Studio, Woodstock, NY (1979), founded
the Boulder Creative Music Ensemble (1982), Denvers Creative
Music Works Orchestra (1993), and was a member of drummer Ginger
Bakers DJQ. He is director of Music Composition at Metro
State University in Denver, CO.
Recording
sixteen CDs under his own name, Hess received Colorados
Composition Fellowship (1986/1994), won Denvers inaugural
Hennessey Jazz Search (1991), the Jazz Composers Alliance, Julius
Hemphill Award (2000), and first prize at the First International
Jazz Composers Symposium (2006). Favorable articles and reviews
have appeared in DownBeat, Jazziz, JazzTimes, Coda, The Wire,
JazzWise, Cadence, and online jazz websites.