Monika Ryan (USA)

About this event

Jazz vocalist Monika Ryan, started singing professionally in nightclubs in Greenwich Village, New York at the age of 15. By 16 she had management and was working around town and under mentorship of musicians like Houston Person.

At 17, upon Houston Person’s recommendation, she applied, and entered the world renowned New School for Jazz and Contemporary Music in Greenwich Village, where she further honed her craft studying with Jackie Paris, Sheila Jordan, Buster Williams, Reggie Workman, Chico Hamilton, Charli Persip, Junior Mance, Arnie Lawrence, and many more jazz luminaries. At 18 years old Monika started singing with Charli Persip’s big band “Precipitation” and worked a nightclubs and concert halls around New York. At one of these concerts she met Al Grey who hired her to do a concert with him. Throughout the following years Monika worked at clubs including Birdland, Smalls, Adelaides Soho Supper club, The Metropolis, The Supper club, and many more with musicians such as Gene Bertoncini, and Larry Ham. At 23 Monika was hired by Carnegie Hall to perform for 2 seasons as part of their outreach program “The Neighborhood Concert Series”. During that time she recorded in Carnegie Hall’s studio a short Duo demo with Legendary guitar player Gene Bertoncini.

In 2000 at the age 25 she self produced her first recording “Love”. All songs were written by her and arranged by Larry Ham. The album met with some critical acclaim and brought her to the Montreal Jazz Festival and on some tours in the United States. In 2001 she recorded her second album “Duo” with Guitarist Satoshi Inoue. Following the release of her second album she toured Japan with Jon Faddis, David Hazeltine, Satoshi Inoue, Akira Tana and Kiyoshi Kitagawa as part of The Big Apple In Nonoichi Jazz Festival. The following year she returned to Japan to tour with James Williams, John Lockwood, Bill Pierce, Satoshi Inoue, and Tony Reedus. Monika moved around that time to Philadelphia and continued to write music and play local clubs and establishments, working on various recording projects before having children and taking a break to get them started in life. In the end of 2010 Monika and her family moved to Chicago to support her husband’s work.

In 2014 Monika released her first recording in 13 years (self produced) “Involution," which is a meditation on the cycle of expansion and contraction in all things. All of the songs were written by Monika and the meditation includes a variety of different genres of music. In 2015, when her youngest child started elementary school, Monika started working again out in Jazz clubs in New York and Chicago and occasionally traveling to other states to do weekend performances. Now at 40 years old with 25 years of professional experience, and the pipes to match, she is back on the scene with full force, playing at Jazz clubs all over the world and preparing to make her latest recording in New York in August 2016. Stay tuned!