Early Evening Jazz: Bryan Nichols & Bryan Murray

Pianist Bryan Nichols and saxophonist Bryan Murray will perform two sets of dinner jazz.

After 20 years of living, studying, and performing in the New York music scene, Bryan Murray relocated to Apple Valley, MN, with his family in 2022. While in New York, Bryan led an “avant country” band called Bryan and the Haggards that focused on the songwriting of country music legend Merle Haggard. The band’s two albums on Hot Cup Records and one with Eugene Chadbourne on Northern Spy Records have received much praise. The New York Times said, “…their debut is satisfying as both a commentary on Mr. Haggard’s music and a dispatch from the current jazz frontier.” The Boston Globe called the debut “The Biggest Surprise Jazz Album” and The Wire rated it as one of the top 10 jazz albums of the year.

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. The Star Tribune has called him “a versatile, daring and inventive keyboardist…one of the Twin Cities’ most respected jazz players.” He is a recipient of a prestigious McKnight Fellowship for Performing Artists and a residency at the Kennedy Center for Betty Carter’s Jazz Ahead program. Bryan has released two albums as a leader to critical and audience acclaim, an original solo piano work, Looking North, and a suite of originals for his quintet, Bright Places.