Ulysses Owens Jr. & Generation Y

Three-time GRAMMY-winning drummer and composer Ulysses Owens Jr. Is one of the busiest instrumentalists in modern jazz, a veteran of work with Christian McBride, Kurt Elling, and Gregory Porter. He presents his Generation Y ensemble of young masters over two nights in Joe Henderson Lab, playing music from his debut with the band A New Beat. 

A first call drummer on the New York scene, the Jacksonville, Florida native is a professor at Juilliard, a co-leader of the New Century Jazz Quartet, and an active bandleader with five acclaimed albums to his name. 

Owens’ newest project, Generation Y, is a quintet of staggeringly talented emerging greats who made a viral impression on YouTube in 2024 with their in-the-moment conception and performance reimagining Nirvana’s grunge rock anthem “Heart Shaped Box," receiving over seven million views to date. 

A project with a kinship to Art Blakey’s Jazz Messengers built around a veteran drummer leading a group of next generation stars, Generation Y features Japanese-born alto saxophonist Erena Terakubo, trumpeter Anthony Hervey, who led his own quintet during a 2025-26 Season performance in October, pianist and Juilliard alumnus Tyler Bullock, and bassist Thomas Milovac, an adventurous Florida-based artist and composer.  

Generation Y’s debut, A New Beat, is a rollicking collection of originals and interpretations of the work of Cannonball Adderley, Roy Hargrove, Jackie McLean, and George Cables.