Ali Ryerson (1956- present)

Introduction


Ali Ryerson was born in New York City in 1952. It is no wonder that Ryerson is so talented with music since music is in her genes. Her father Art Ryerson got his start with the Paul Whiteman Orchestra as a bass guitarist. He was a first-call studio player in NYC and recorded with many famous musicians such as Louis Armstrong, Charlie Parker and Elvis Presley. With this strong musical background behind her, Ali Ryerson developed her musical skills effortlessly. She toured international, with performances ranging in location from Carnegie Hall to the Blue Note. During this time she recorded and/or performed with jazz greats such as Stephane Grappelli, Red Rodney, Roy Haynes, Hubert Laws, Mike Mainieri, Art Farmer, Kenny Barron, Frank Wess, and Joe Beck, as well as classical artists Julius Baker, Luciano Pavarotti (while principal flutist with the Monterey Bay Orchestra), and harpsichord master Anthony Newman. Ali was musical director of the Hudson River Regional Jazz Festival (2001-’04), Jazz chair of the National Flute Association (2005-’10), Low Flutes Chair of NFA (current) and founder of the NFA Jazz Flute Big Band.

The following is an excerpt from her personal bio:

As an educator/author, Ryerson published her widely acclaimed Jazz Flute Practice Method book in ’09, just released her Jazz Flute Masterclass DVD (Lessonface), and has written numerous instructional articles for The Flutist Quarterly, Downbeat Magazine, and Flute Talk, among others. Ms. Ryerson recently joined the faculty at Sacred Heart University in Fairfield CT as Flute Professor, and continues to conduct master classes worldwide, including her week-long annual master class held at Hidden Valley Music Seminars in California. Ms. Ryerson has been on the faculty of the Litchfield Jazz Camp, the IJAM JAZZ summer camp in Italy, is a visiting faculty member at The Jazzschool in Berkeley, CA and a visiting artist-in-residence at universities throughout the US and abroad. She currently teaches an online master class series through LessonFace in NYC. As a composer, Ali has received numerous commissions for flute ensembles. Ms. Ryerson studied flute with Harold Bennett (NY Metropolitan Orch.) and John Wion (NYC Opera Orch.), and performed at numerous Julius Baker master classes (NY Philharmonic). Ryerson is a graduate of the Hartt School of Music (University of Hartford).

A Gemeinhardt Artist with an Autograph Series of flutes she helped design, Ali’s pet project for the past 14 years has been developing her Jazz Flute Big Band, a unique jazz ensemble made up entirely of flutes, ranging from piccolo to contrabass, with a full rhythm section, performing arrangements by some of today’s top jazz arrangers, all commissioned by Ryerson for the JFBB. Their debut CD release, Game Changer – The Ali Ryerson Jazz Flute Big Band (Capri Records ‘13), remained in the TOP 10 on the US Jazz Charts for six straight weeks.

Works
Body And Soul

Nao Esta Colando (I'm Not Buying It)

Recorda Me Remember Me

Garnet Valley Groove

Camila

1st Gymnopedie (feat. Mike Mainieri)

Lullaby Of Birdland

Another Time, Another Place (feat. Mark Egan & Dann…

Emily, Theme From The Americanizaiton Of Emily

You Don't Know What Love Is (feat. Mike Mainieri)

Along Together

Shadows (feat. Pete Levin)

Jazz Folk

Sarah's Touch (feat. Mike Mainieri)

Just Friends

Work I Heard: I heard Ali Ryerson’s Green Valley Groove performed at the 2017 Alba International Music Festival by Flutes USA. Because Ryerson is primarly a jazz performer and composer it was obvious to hear the jazzy tones of the song. It’s very repetitive with a pattern of 9 notes being replayed throughout the entire song. At several points there are soloist that take lead with a different tune, but it primarily stays with the same melody. Overall, it was catchy and upbeat, but a lacked diversity in its melody.

Comparison
Another popular Jazz composer Ali Ryerson has been compared to is John Litweiler. However, Litweiler’s music is much brassier than Ryerson’s, as well as being much more breathy. In all honesty, except for the fact that they both produced Jazz music in the same era, there are little similarities between them. Ryerson’s music is bouncy with a swing to it, catchy tunes that are easy to remember and an upbeat tempo. Litweiler’s music is shifty, almost guttural and the tune is constantly changing.

Observations
Unlike many contemporary composers who try to create their own new type of Jazz for their compositions. Ali Ryerson sticks closely to traditional jazz, while still making it new and completely her own. You can listen to a piece of her music and tell that it is hers because the tone and tempo combinations she uses are quite distinct.