Jim Ridl

Jim Ridl is a New York based jazz pianist and composer known for a lyrical, wide ranging style that moves between swinging modern jazz and ambitious original writing. Raised on a farm in North Dakota, he studied scoring and arranging at the University of Colorado at Denver, where his tone poem Ocean Sojourn earned a student achievement award and a performance with the Denver Symphony Orchestra. He toured early on with the Grammy nominated vocal group Rare Silk before settling in the New York area, where he led a quartet and trio through a seven year residency at the 55 Bar. He has recorded extensively as a leader and sideman and teaches at the New York Jazz Workshop and the City College of New York.