About
Ella Grace is a "rising star" performer, composer, educator, and journalist based in Chicago, where she recently won the Chicago Music Scene Fellowship. Born in Georgia and raised in Minnesota, Ella moved to Chicago in 2021, where she earned a Bachelor of Music degree in Jazz Studies from DePaul University in 2025. Heralded by the Twin Cities Jazz Festival as "ultra-talented," Ella performs frequently throughout the Midwest both as a side-woman and bandleader with her original compositions. In 2024, Ella became the first female trumpeter to tour with the Glenn Miller Orchestra, expanding her reach from national to international.
Ella’s musical upbringing began in Minnesota. There she studied with Steve Strand, Prince's longtime lead trumpeter and played in the state’s salient youth honors jazz ensembles including Minnesota Youth Jazz Bands, Minnesota All-State Jazz Band under the direction of Patty Darling, and the Dakota Combo under the direction of Michael Cain. In high school, Ella began leading a combo and performing professionally around the Twin Cities after placing second for top-division combos at the Eau Claire Jazz Festival. During her senior year of high school, Ella studied music full-time at the University of Minnesota with Marissa Benedict, Dean Sorenson, and Phil Hey, performing in the university's top jazz combo and big band as well as in classical ensembles.
Continuing her education at DePaul University, Ella won the 2024 Jazz Education Network Jamey Aebersold Endowed Scholarship as well as the 2025 Jazz Education Network Conference Sites Grant.
Aside from performing and composing, Ella dabbles in music production and songwriting, some of which you can hear on her Spotify, Apple Music, or any other music streaming service. Ella is passionate about furthering gender equity in jazz and recently completed an academic research project on the subject, which won the first place Sloane Prize in Undergraduate Research at the 2024 National Collegiate Honors Conference. She also enjoys jazz journalism, writing articles, hosting a radio show, and working as Web News Director for Radio DePaul. You can find some of her writing on Substack. To learn more about what Ella is up to, sign up for her weekly newsletter here!
Projects
Ella Grace MNTET
The Ella Grace MNTET is Ella's Minnesota-based quintet that performs Ella's original contemporary jazz compositions at venues including the Twin Cities Jazz Festival, Fingal's Cave, Jazz Central Studios, KJ's Hideaway, and Berlin. The group generally consists of tenor saxophone, trumpet, piano, bass, and drums, but is adaptable and can take the form of a quartet. Ella also has a Chicago-based version of the group called the Ella Grace 5tet.
Ella + Park
Ella + Park are a dynamic guitar/trumpet duo that performs classic jazz standards at restaurants and private events primarily in the Chicagoland area. They add interest, intrigue, and emotion to what might otherwise be considered background music. You can hear them play at XMarket in Uptown Chicago on the first Friday of every month from 7-9pm.
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Abstraction
Abstraction is one of Ella's newest projects. It is a duo with guitarist Javier Martinez. Together, the two perform ambient improvised music with extensive use of electronics and special effect pedals, resulting in highly meditative music. Head over to the Listen page to hear an example.
Bue Ox Quintet
Ella is a member of the Blue Ox Quintet as well as the Blue Ox Jazz Orchestra. Led by Minnesota drummer Jack Schabert, Blue Ox performs original jazz compositions throughout the state of Minnesota. The Blue Ox Quintet has released three albums which include some of Ella's original compositions. Listen to them here.
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Vocal Vignettes
Vocal Vignettes is a newer project of Ella's which brings together several different Chicago-based vocalists to perform with a quartet or quintet of rhythm section and horns. This format makes for a lot of variety and the repertoire, all arranged by Ella, ranges from jazz to r&b to disco. The project debuted at Fulton Street Collective in Chicago in May 2024.
And More!
Ella is involved in several other projects including, but not limited to, the following: Trevor Dean & the Sting--a Chicago-based septet led by guitarist and vocalist Trevor Dean Stewart that performs his original arrangements and compositions ranging from jazz to r&b and beyond; Bonnie Watts--Ella regularly performs with Chicago-based jazz vocalist Bonnie Watts; Salsa--Ella performs with multiple Chicago-based salsa bands at clubs and private events; And even more--Ella plays with many one-off bands throughout the midwest.
