Ulysses Owens Jr.
“a legitimate jazz triple threat... Ulysses Owens Jr. is indeed the real deal.””
Ulysses Owens Jr. is a three-time GRAMMY Award-winning jazz drummer, bandleader, producer, educator, author and composer whose work spans performance, mentorship, entrepreneurship and education. He leads Generation Y and The People’s Big Band, heads UOJ Productions, teaches at The Juilliard School and The New School, serves as Drumeo’s inaugural Jazz Drum Instructor and is Founding Artistic Director of Jacksonville nonprofit Don’t Miss a Beat. Through UOJ Productions, he has produced more than 70 albums in 15-plus years.
The New York Times has called Owens “a drummer who takes a back seat to no one.” He has performed or recorded with Christian McBride, Kurt Elling, Wynton Marsalis, Mulgrew Miller, Renée Fleming and Dianne Schuur, and has appeared on GRAMMY-winning albums by Elling, the Christian McBride Big Band and the Generation Gap Jazz Orchestra. His big band earned DownBeat’s Rising Star Large Ensemble honor in 2022, while Modern Drummer readers named him Jazz Drummer of the Year in 2024.
Born in Orange Park, Florida, Owens began playing drums in church and later studied at The Juilliard School as a member of its inaugural Jazz Studies class. Mentors including John Riley, Victor Goines and Mulgrew Miller helped shape his approach to jazz tradition, musicianship and mentorship. After graduating in 2006, Owens built a wide-ranging career as both a sideman and leader, touring for seven years with Christian McBride and releasing albums including Unanimous, Onward & Upward, Falling Forward, Songs of Freedom and Soul Conversations.
Owens has increasingly focused on developing younger musicians. He founded Generation Y as a working ensemble and mentorship platform, describing the band as his “Taj Mahal” because it brings together his roles as mentor, bandleader, educator, entrepreneur and writer. Its 2024 debut, A New Beat, spent eight consecutive weeks at No. 1 on the JazzWeek Radio Chart, while Around the World With U reached No. 1 for two weeks in 2026.
His reach expanded further through Drumeo, where his viral performances of Nirvana’s “In Bloom” and “Heart-Shaped Box” introduced him and Generation Y to millions of viewers. That experiment helped inspire Kind of Grunge, a 2026 Generation Y album exploring music associated with Nirvana, Pearl Jam, Alice in Chains, Soundgarden and others.
Owens’ work also includes Broadway, publishing and education. He made his Broadway debut in A Wonderful World: The Louis Armstrong Musical, has written multiple instructional books, and teaches musicians to pair artistic excellence with business, marketing and self-management. After pursuing several major university positions, Owens came to see that his path might require creating some of the opportunities he hoped to find; he has since worked with dozens of universities while developing educational programs of his own.
“I want to be known as a trailblazer, and as a person who has his hand on the pulse of what’s next in every way,” Owens says. Inspired early by Quincy Jones, he remains focused on connecting tradition, the present moment and whatever comes next.
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