Bryan Wright is a Grammy-nominated musicologist and pianist specializing in ragtime and early jazz piano styles. At age 5, after seeing two people play piano in a talent show, Bryan asked his parents for piano lessons. After some years of studying the classics, he became smitten by ragtime following an encounter with Joshua Rifkin's Nonesuch Joplin recordings. By his college years, Bryan was devoting most of his time at the piano to learning rags and other syncopated works of the 1890s-1930s. With his wife, Yuko, he has performed and lectured across the United States and abroad, performing as featured pianist at such events as the JVC Jazz Festival (New York City), the Scott Joplin International Ragtime Festival (Sedalia, MO), the Central Pennsylvania Ragtime Festival (Orbisonia, PA), the West Coast Ragtime Festival (Sacramento, CA), the Buenos Aires (Argentina) Ragtime Festival, and the Tokyo and Sapporo (Japan) Ragtime Festivals. He has released two full-length solo CDs, Syncopated Musings and Breakin' Notes, and collaborated on a third with Brian Holland and Danny Coots (Live from Buenos Aires). Bryan is founder and executive producer of Rivermont Records, a label specializing in ragtime and early jazz that is now nearing its 100th release. Bryan is an avid collector of 78 rpm records, and he puts those to use on a weekly podcast that he hosts: The Shellac Stack (www.shellacstack.com). Bryan holds degrees in historical musicology from the College of William and Mary (Williamsburg, Virginia) and the University of Pittsburgh, where he presently teaches courses in music history. Visit Bryan online: www.bryanswright.com
Bryan Wright is a Grammy-nominated musicologist and pianist specializing in ragtime and early jazz piano styles. At age 5, after seeing two people play piano in a talent show, Bryan asked his parents for piano lessons. After some years of studying the classics, he became smitten by ragtime following an encounter with Joshua Rifkin's Nonesuch Joplin recordings. By his college years, Bryan was devoting most of his time at the piano to learning rags and other syncopated works of the 1890s-1930s. With his wife, Yuko, he has performed and lectured across the United States and abroad, performing as featured pianist at such events as the JVC Jazz Festival (New York City), the Scott Joplin International Ragtime Festival (Sedalia, MO), the Central Pennsylvania Ragtime Festival (Orbisonia, PA), the West Coast Ragtime Festival (Sacramento, CA), the Buenos Aires (Argentina) Ragtime Festival, and the Tokyo and Sapporo (Japan) Ragtime Festivals. He has released two full-length solo CDs, Syncopated Musings and Breakin' Notes, and collaborated on a third with Brian Holland and Danny Coots (Live from Buenos Aires). Bryan is founder and executive producer of