Steven Bulmer Welcomes You

Steve Bulmer is a bassist, educator, composer and producer actively performing and recording on upright bass, electric bass and tuba. As an educator, Steve is the Instructor of bass (classical, jazz, upright bass and bass guitar) at the University of Connecticut in Storrs, CT where he is  also director of all UConn Jazz Combos.

A native New Englander from Connecticut, Steve enjoys a very active career as an educator and performer that spans many musical idioms including jazz, classical, musical theater and pop/rock. He started piano at age 6 but his musical interest drew him acoustically lower and lower, focusing on how performing as a bassist works harmonically and rhythmically.

Education

Steve was formally trained at the Eastman School of Music where he received a bachelor’s degree in both Music Education and Music Performance, planning to be a performer and educator. He received a Master of Music degree from Northwestern University studying with the famous pedagogue and Chicago Symphony Orchestra tubist Arnold Jacobs.

Steve the Bassist

Steve performs as a bassist and tubist extensively with regional and national musicians in many settings. He has performed on Broadway in productions of Chicago (the Musical) and Parade! at Lincoln Center doubling on upright bass and tuba. He is first call bassist in the region when national touring shows hire area musicians, and has played in such productions as Wicked, Back to the Future, Beautiful – The Carol King Story, Spamalot, Pippin, Mary Poppins, Evita!, The Addams Family, Billy Eliot, Victor/Victoria, and Young Frankenstein and has backed such jazz talents as Mel Tormé, Ray Charles, and classical acts: The Three Irish Tenors, and Josh Groban.

Steve performs as a bassist with Connecticut-based symphony orchestras including those in Wallingford, Ridgefield, Waterbury and also the Greater Bridgeport Symphony Orchestra. He also plays tuba and arranges for the Constitution Brass Quintet and has enjoyed re-arranging Widor and Vierne symphonic organ classics for brass quintet, acting as producer of many concerts and events

Jazz

Steve is active as a jazz bassist performing throughout New England with many regional artists and ensembles including performances with Phil Woods, John Abercrombie, Earl MacDonald, John Mastroianni, Greg Abate, Jeff Holmes, Ali Ryerson, Kendra Shank, Nick Brignola, Tom Malone, Lou Marini, Matt Parker, Jonathan Barber, Anton Kot, and vocalese artist Giacomo Gates.

As a composer, Steve most recently was commissioned to write music and lyrics for a movement of Jazz and Justice Suite: A Multi-Movement Declaration. A collaboration between UConn Music and the Gladstein Human Rights Institute, his piece Waltz Gaiabetic explored environmental justice and advocacy as inspired by Kenyan Nobel Peace Prize winner Wangari Maathai. He performed in its world premiere on April 7, 2026 in J. Louis von der Mehden Recital Hall along with members of UConn Jazz faculty

Steve leads his own jazz quintet, The Hall Monitors, comprised of the area’s finest players and passionate educators. He also performs regularly with Sarah Clay and the StarCats where he arranges a variety of songs for this jazz trio.

He is bassist and president of the New England Jazz Ensemble, a non-profit 16-piece jazz orchestra that commissions and performs new works with an educational mission.  Steve is producer of the NEJE’s Peter and the Wolf project, a recording including a Jazz Ensemble version of Prokofiev’s classic tale augmented with four original works inspired by the classical themes. The album was released in April 2018 and has garnered considerable critical acclaim, in jazz and non-jazz circles alike.

Steve has also been the Secretary and a Board member of the Hartford Jazz Society since 2018 and chairs it’s committee focusing on jazz educators.

Steve is a long-term member of the Ethel Lee Ensemble that performs summer Sundays at UNO’s Chicago Bar and Grill in Springfield, MA.

In April 2026, I was commissioned to write a movement for the UConn Jazz Faculty’s Jazz & Justice Suite: A Multi-Movement Declaration in conjunction with the UConn Gladstein Family Center for Human Rights. Here is the video of my piece Waltz Gaiabetic from the premiere concert at J. Louis von der Mehden Concert Hall.

In October 2025, I had the honor of performing with the Draa Hobbs Quintet at Stage 33 in Bellow Falls, VT. Draa Hobbs celebrated his new album with a concert backed by tenor sax virtuoso Michael Zsoldos, Berklee College of Music’s Rich Greenblatt on vibes, Hartford bassist Steve Bulmer, extraordinary drummer Tim Gilmore, plus Sarah Clay on flute and vocals for select numbers. Enjoy Draa’s composition “Uprising”

Here’s a cut from the 2019 Berkshire Jazz Festival featuring Jazz Prodigy Anton Kot on drums, Paul Arslanian on piano and yours truly on bass. I was quite honored to be performing with such fine musicians and Anton is someone to keep an ear out for…he’s only 17 in this video, amazing!

A fun video with A Jazz Affair: Trevor Davis, John Smayda and Doug Schlink. Video by Tre Davis. From a wine and chocolate cruise on the Essex Steam Train and Becky Thatcher river cruise.

Here’s a set from my gig with Ricky Alphonso’s Blue Soul Unit at The Lounge in Brattleboro, VT from May 2018. Features Rick on Trumpet and Vocals, Eugene Uman on piano, yours truly on bass and Tido Holtkamp on drums. Such a pleasure to make music with people like this!

I had the pleasure of sitting in with the Hartford Jazz Orchestra which features the music of the very talented Chic Cicchetti. It is now led by the exceptionally talented Donn Trenner. Check out “Freckle Face” featuring a flugelhorn solo by Pat Lennon, who just kills it!

Here’s some YouTube live of Alone Together with Draa Hobbs and Claire Arenius. Sorry for the background chatter but it doesn’t get much more fun than playing with these guys!

I am president and bassist with the New England Jazz Ensemble. We are a not-for-profit organization promoting the music of the modern big band/jazz ensemble.

Get to know us at www.neje.org ,
at our CD store at www.cdbaby.com/Artist/NewEnglandJazzEnsemble
or on Pandora at http://www.pandora.com/new-england-jazz-ensemble

Our latest project is a jazz ensemble version of the iconic “Peter and the Wolf” by Sergei Prokofiev. The CD hit the streets April 22, 2018. Please read the story in DOWNBEAT Magazine.

Our CD Release Concert was Thursday October 25, 7:30 PM at the Roberts Theater at Kingswood Oxford School, 170 Kingswood Rd, West Hartford, CT 06119

Check out some cuts from our arrangement written by Walter Gwardyak with “jazzbretto” written and read by Giacomo Gates.

Check out this review from Jack Bowers at All About Jazz:

“This is an ambitious (and essentially successful) enterprise, designed to please fans of the classical and jazz worlds alike, not an easy task to accomplish. The NEJE does it with outstanding musicianship and expansive imagination. The ensemble is exemplary, the soloists bright and perceptive. And with the jazz flavor added to the mix, Sergei Prokofiev’s memorable epic of Peter and the Wolf has seldom sounded better.” – Jack Bowers

Going back to our previous CD, here’s a little sample audio/video from our live CD Release Party performance of Billy Taylor’s “It’s A Grand Night for Swinging” arranged by Jeff Holmes.  It features solos by our guest artists: vocalist Giacomo Gates, flutist Ali Ryerson and guitarist Jon Abercrombie. There are even a couple of audio cameos by drummer Jon Mele and yours truly on bass.

When I am not off on a bicycling adventure with my wife or family, try me at:

EMAIL

srbbass@gmail.com

OLDMAIL

18 Ranney Rd
Cromwell, CT 06416