GEORGE COLLIGAN TRIO - Sold Out!

George Colligan is not only one of the great jazz pianists of his generation, but he has earned an international reputation as a multi-instrumentalist (drums, trumpet, organ, keyboards), composer, accompanist, teacher, and bandleader, as well as popular blogger (jazztruth.blogspot.com). Winner of the 2015 DownBeat magazine Critics Poll (Keyboard), he has had a long association with living jazz legend Jack DeJohnette; recent touring took Colligan around the U.S. with “An Evening with Jack DeJohnette and Savion Glover.” He has also recently toured the U.S. and Canada as a leader with his trio featuring legends Buster Williams and Lenny White. With over 130 albums to date as an accompanist, Colligan has worked with a long list of jazz greats, including John Scofield, Buster Williams, Cassandra Wilson, Don Byron, Ravi Coltrane, Chris Botti, and many others. His latest album, “King’s Dream” (PJCE Records 2022) is his 36th as a bandleader, and features PSU faculty and alumni.  Colligan, a New York resident for 15 years, now resides in Portland, Oregon where he is a Full Professor at Portland State University. He has recently won two Region Arts and Culture Council grants, A South Arts Jazz Road grant, and a PSU Faculty Development grant. Colligan recently won the PSU College of The Arts Dean’s Council Award for Research, Scholarship and Creativity(2020), and also won the Researcher of the Year Award from the PSU College Of The Arts (2021).

Michael Raynor  is a world class drummer who splits his time between Portland and Chicago, where he spent more than twenty years playing with tenor sax icon and NEA Jazz Master, Von Freeman. Raynor also toured with vocalist Kurt Elling and can be heard on two of his Grammy nominated recordings, including "Live in Chicago," featuring Jon Hendricks. He has worked with Freddie Hubbard, Eric Alexander, Tia Fuller, Steve Coleman, Gary Bartz, Johnny Griffin, Ira Sullivan, Jon Faddis, Bob Sheppard, Bobby Broom, Fareed Haque, Howard Levy, Arturo Sandoval, Chuck Israels, Nancy King, and Bob Dorough among others. In addition to playing festivals throughout Europe, North America, and Australia, Raynor has co-led tours in both Asia and Africa as a United States Jazz Ambassador.

Eric Gruber is highly sought after among Portland jazz professionals and is also gaining national recognition. He is often seen performing with various notable Northwest musicians including Darrell Grant, Devin Phillips, Marilyn Keller and Dmitri Matheny; as well as playing frequently throughout Oregon and Washington with Skybound Blue. He is frequently recognized for his harmonically innovative solos, driving rhythms, and superb sense of time.