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Ryan Kisor

Ryan Kisor was born April 12th, 1973 in Sioux City, Iowa. He began playing in a local dance band by the age of ten, began classical lessons at 12, met and was inspired by Clark Terry at 15 (while attending the latter's summer jazz camp) and played with various high school all-star bands. In November of 1990 he won the Thelonius Monk Institute's trumpet competition at the age of just 17, beating out the likes of Nicholas Payton and Marcus Printup. After graduating from high school in 1991, he went to the Manhattan School of Music and later studied with Lew Soloff among others. He has recorded fairly extensively both as a leader and sideman and with small and large groups. Among the highlights; the Mingus Big Band (which still plays every thursday night at "The Fez" under Time Cafe in NYC's east village), the Michel Camilo Big Band (which although only existed for the purpose of recording the album, "One More Once," was arguably one of the best latin big bands recorded in recent memory), the Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra, Gerry Mulligan, Wynton Marsalis, Wycliffe Gordon, Horace Silver, and Walter Blanding. Kisor just celebrated his 30th birthday, so the best is likely yet to come.

Ralph Bowen: Keep the Change

by C. Andrew Hovan
September 7, 2024

I can still remember the impression that Ralph Bowen made on a young jazz enthusiast trying to break into radio and be part of the hip jazz crowd. I had decided to get involved with the programming end of a local non-profit arts support organization and on a letter perfect July evening our committee had lined up a double bill that included Kevin Eubanks and the mid '80s collective Out Of The Blue. An hour or so before OTB was ...

Liner Notes

Ryan Kisor: Awakening

by C. Andrew Hovan
June 24, 2023

A man of few words, Ryan Kisor chooses to let his horn do the speaking and obviously it has said volumes over the years when you consider that the trumpeter is one of a select few musicians who has managed to sustain a viable career past the heydays of the jazz renaissance of the '80s and early '90s. Even when given the opportunity to elaborate on his most recent musical endeavors, Kisor states quite simply, “I'm pretty much just doing ...

Liner Notes

Ryan Kisor: Power Source

by C. Andrew Hovan
June 22, 2023

Taking full advantage of what might be termed his “second wind," Ryan Kisor has grown into one of the most mature trumpeters of his generation. Back in 1990 when he impressed his elders by taking the prize at the Thelonious Monk Institute trumpet competition, things appeared promising and a major record label deal even came through the following year, but it might have been a slight case of a bit too much too soon. It seemed as quickly as his ...

Liner Notes

Wycliffe Gordon: What You Dealin' With?

by C. Andrew Hovan
April 2, 2023

Privy to the entire history of jazz trombone via the technological age in which we live, Wycliffe Gordon seems to have utilized this information in such a way that his own playing displays elements from various periods and a technical competence that is indeed remarkable. “I was most familiar, at first, with guys who played with Louis Armstrong, namely Trummy Young or Kid Ory and later on Jack Teagarden," says Gordon about the early years in his development. “Later I ...

Album Review

Glenn Close & Ted Nash: Transformation

Read "Transformation" reviewed by Paul Rauch

by Paul Rauch
May 19, 2021

Transformation is a multi-disciplinary work from saxophonist/composer Ted Nash, and iconic actress Glenn Close, exploring the multi-faceted and abstract theme of transformation. The works included examine the theme from both universal and individual conceptions. Music and literature at its best is clearly transformative for anyone experiencing it. Transformation is by essence, the highest and most illuminating expression of change. Nash embraced the project by creating a colorful and illustrative collection of pieces, embracing Close's curated literary selections recited by the ...

Album Review

Glenn Close/Ted Nash: Transformation

Read "Transformation" reviewed by Jack Bowers

by Jack Bowers
April 19, 2021

When confronted by an album whose tracks include the names “Creation" (Parts 1 and 2), “Preludes for Memnon," “Wisdom of the Humanities" and “Reaching the Tropopause," among others, one braces for whatever may transpire, buoyed by the thought that with Glenn Close, Ted Nash and the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra on board, how displeasing could it be? The verdict: not at all displeasing—but it must be appraised on its own terms, as a series of philosophical and hopefully transformative ...

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Album Review

Ryan Kisor Quintet: This is Ryan

Read "This is Ryan" reviewed by Judith Insell

by Judith Insell
March 9, 2006

This is Ryan continues to confirm that trumpeter Ryan Kisor is more than a “young lion, a label he received after winning the Thelonious Monk Competition back in 1990. At the still young age of 32, he is continuing in the tradition of the modal-minded trumpet players who preceded him, sounding like he comes from the direct lineage of the great Woody Shaw. His excellent trumpet technique, especially clear in the upper register, makes possible seamless solo lines. This is ...

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Recording

CDs: Michael Weiss, Ryan Kisor

Source: Rifftides by Doug Ramsey
August 28, 2008

Michael Weiss, Soul Journey (Sintra). Michael Weiss has been a pianist to follow since his impressive 1986 debut recording, Presenting Michael Weiss. As his career rolled out in work with Art Farmer, Johnny Griffin, Lou Donaldson, Tom Harrell and other major leaguers, Weiss's talent as a composer became increasingly apparent. His writing received high-profile recognition when he won the 2000 BMI/Monk Institute Composers Competition grand prize for “El Camino." That is one of the pieces in Weiss's Soul Journey CD, ...
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