Bryan Nichols Trio

Bryan Nichols is a pianist, composer, and educator based in Minneapolis. Often found playing jazz and improvised music, but at home in a variety of musical worlds, he leads and composes for his own trio, quintet, and nonet in addition to performing, recording, and touring with a variety of forward-thinking artists, and is a regular member of groups like the Gang Font, Dead Man Winter, and Halloween, Alaska. Bryan has been awarded a McKnight Fellowship for Performing Musicians, a prestigious and competitive award given to Minnesota musicians. His work also earned him a residency from Betty Carter’s Jazz Ahead program at the Kennedy Center, given to outstanding, emerging jazz performer/composers, and a subito grant from the American Composers Forum. Bryan has released two recordings as a leader, Bright Places, containing nine original compositions for his quintet, and Looking North, a record of solo piano works. Minneapolis Star Tribune called him “a versatile, daring and inventive keyboardist in lead and accompanying roles, [he has] established himself as one of the Twin Cities’ most respected jazz players.” You can also hear his playing on recent releases by Zacc Harris, Tina Schlieske, and Dead Man Winter.