• “A veteran pianist who also spent considerable time in the trenches and is now a respected musician’s musician.” The New Yorker, Steve Futterman

• “Jim Ridl is absolutely stellar on piano, hallmarking his own abilities to both accompany, to solo with brilliance and to improvise on a theme.” Jazz wordPress, Dee Dee McNeil on Paul Jost’s recording “While We were Gone”

Jim Ridl, a New York City-based jazz pianist, composer and teacher, performs and records worldwide with a variety of jazz artists, including The Joe Locke Quartet, The Paul Jost Quartet, The Dave Liebman Big Band, and the Mingus Big Band. He is well-known as a “musician’s musician.” His 7-year residency at the renowned NYC jazz club, The 55Bar, featured the Jim Ridl Quartet and Trio performing his original music. In 2021, Jim began a residency at The Soapbox Gallery in Brooklyn, online and in person, which has become a creative platform for original jazz. Jim is on the faculty at New York Jazz Workshop and The City College of New York, and has maintained a private studio for over 30 years, now both online and in person.

Jim has 9 recordings of his own, including two released in 2022: Ask for the Ancient Path (May 2022, featuring Scott Robinson, Martin Wind and Tim Horner), and Standards Live (August 2022, the Jim Ridl Trio with Tim Lekan and Bob Shomo). Jim’s previously recordings: Door in a Field Volume 2 “Songs of the Green River,” Blue Corn Enchilada Dreams , Your Cheatin’ Heart and Other Works; Door In a Field v.1; Jim Ridl Trio/Live; Blues Liberations (solo piano); and Five Minutes to Madness and Joy.

Jim’s tenure with jazz guitar legend Pat Martino included performances around the world in quartet and duet, and produced 4 outstanding recordings: Nexus, Interchange, Night Wings and The Maker.

Additionally, Jim has performed and/or recorded with Steve Wilson, Randy Brecker, Marc Johnson, Bill Stewart, Denis DiBlasio, Jay Anderson, Tim Armacost, Kenny Davis, Cliff Almond, Wayne Krantz, Joel Rosenblatt, JD Walter, Donald Edwards, Chris Tarry, Scott Reeves, Gabriela Anders, Rudy Royston, Ximo Tebar, Darryl Hall, Zach Brock, Tim Horner, Ralph Bowen, Dean Johnson, John Benitez, Diane Monroe, Donny McCaslin, Mark Walker, Terrell Stafford, Vic Juris, Francois Moutin, …

Jim has toured with the US State Department American Music Abroad program, performing and offering workshops in Asia-Pacific, Russia, South Korea, China, the Philippines, Moldova, Azerbaijan, Slovania and Malta. Jim has conducted master classes and subbed for colleagues at New York University, City College of New York, Temple University and William Paterson University, was the Art Tatum Memorial Scholarship Artist at the University of Toledo, and Visiting Jazz Artist at Princeton University, where he also directed several ensembles.

Jim was raised on a farm and ranch in North Dakota, and discovered his love for piano and jazz at an early age. He attended the University of Colorado at Denver, where he earned his Bachelor’s degree in Scoring and Arranging, and was awarded its Student Achievement Award for composing “Ocean Sojourn,” an orchestral tone poem which he performed with the Denver Symphony Orchestra, James Setapen, conducting. He is listed in the Who’s Who of American Colleges and Universities. In Denver, Jim began his professional career performing and touring with local and nationally-recognized musicians, including the Grammy-nominated vocal jazz group, Rare Silk.

Jim Ridl, a New York City-based jazz pianist, composer and teacher, performs and records worldwide with a variety of jazz artists, including The Joe Locke Quartet, The Paul Jost Quartet, and The Dave Liebman Big Band. His own groups perform regularly at the renowned 55 Bar in NYC, and at Brooklyn’s Soapbox Gallery, both venues for creative and original jazz. Jim has 9 recordings of his own, including Ask for the Ancient Path (May 2022), and Standards Live (August 2022), and he has been featured on hundreds of recordings of other artists. Jim is on the faculty at New York Jazz Workshop and The City College of New York, and maintains an active private studio.
Jim was raised on a farm and ranch in North Dakota, and discovered his love for piano and jazz at an early age. He attended the University of Colorado at Denver, where he earned his Bachelor’s degree in Scoring and Arranging, and was awarded its Student Achievement Award for composing “Ocean Sojourn,” an orchestral tone poem which he performed with the Denver Symphony Orchestra. In Denver, Jim began his professional career performing and touring with local and nationally-recognized musicians, including the Grammy-nominated vocal jazz group, Rare Silk.

• “A veteran pianist who also spent considerable time in the trenches and is now a respected musician’s musician.” The New Yorker, Steve Futterman

• “Jim Ridl is absolutely stellar on piano, hallmarking his own abilities to both accompany, to solo with brilliance and to improvise on a theme.” Jazz wordPress, Dee Dee McNeil on Paul Jost’s recording “While We were Gone”