Ryan Meagher
Ryan Meagher is an American-born jazz guitarist.
Biography
Born in Santa Clara, California on August 18 1981, Ryan began playing music on the trumpet at Leonard Herman Intermediate School in San Jose, California because he didn't want to be in home economics classes. After enjoying some success with trumpet in his school band, the band teacher asked him to switch to trombone so he could play in the jazz band. His freshman year of high school he switched to guitar full time, and played in the award winning Santa Teresa High School Jazz Band 4 years in a row. While at Santa Teresa, he was part of several master classes with well known jazz musicians such as Poncho Sanchez, Wynton Marsalis, and the Brubeck Brothers. He went on to receive a full scholarship based on performance at San Diego State University. There he studied harmony under Rick Helzer, was part of master classes with Kenny Burrell, and Andy Levine, and studied outside of school with Joe Bagg, Gilbert Castellanos, Bob Magnusson, Mark Levine, Joe Diorio, and many others. After graduating cum laude with distinction from San Diego State, he moved to New York City where he studied with modern jazz guitar giants Steve Cardenas, Ben Monder, Peter Bernstein, and Kurt Rosenwinkel. In 2004, Ryan self-produced a demo/EP called, Sun Resounding, that featured Bryn Roberts (piano), Greg Ritchie (drums), Jeff Gutierrez (tenor sax), and Geoff Kraly (bass). Sun Resounding contained five original pieces from Meagher that demonstrated his thoughtful, yet lyrical compositional approach.
In 2009 Fresh Sound New Talent Records released Meagher's first full-length album, again featuring all original compositions. The album is called Atroefy. It features Loren Stillman on alto saxophone, Matt Renzi on tenor sax and clarinet, Geoff Kraly on bass, and Vinnie Sperrazza on drums. The compositions on the album feature rhythmic, guitar-driven parts layered with complicated, yet singable melodies and solid, steady accompaniment from the bass and drums. Meagher dubs his music, "Modern Jazz for the Indie Rocker."