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Jon Ballantyne (born in Prince Albert, Saskatchewan, Canada) is a pianist and composer who resides in the New York area. [1]
Ballantyne started playing the piano at an early age and began formal study at the age of six. His father, Fred, is a pianist. Both of his parents are jazz enthusiasts and exposed him to the recordings of Miles Davis, Thelonious Monk, Bill Evans and Duke Ellington.[ citation needed ]
Ballantyne studied classical piano and played in a garage band when he was a teenager. He also played the tenor saxophone and piano in high school concerts and stage bands. He attended high school in City Park Collegiate Institute (Saskatoon, Saskatchewan).
Ballantyne was awarded a scholarship to study in North Texas State University (attending from 1982 to 1985) where he played in the One O'clock Lab Band.
In the fall of 1987, Ballantyne joined the Woody Herman Thundering Herd for an extensive tour in the U.S.. He re-joined the band in the late 1990s for various European and United Kingdom tours and performances in the Northeast, New England and Florida.
As a six-year resident of Park Slope, Brooklyn in the 1990s, he played afternoon jam sessions in his studio apartment with forward-looking musicians such as Seamus Blake, Bill Carrothers, Phil Haynes, Donny McCaslin, Dave Pietro, Scott Neumann, Jay Rosen, Tony Scherr, Mark Turner, Elliot Zigmund, and Matt Wilson, most of which are his neighbours.
He has conducted educational clinics in Sibelius Academy in Helsinki, University of Colorado Boulder, University of Northern Colorado in Greeley, McGill University, University of Toronto, Concordia University, and University of Saskatchewan, among others.
From 1999 to 2006, Ballantyne led a quartet consisting bassist Boris Kozlov, drummer Jeff Hirshfield, and saxophonist/bass clarinetist Douglas Yates, as well as a trio featuring Drew Gress and Gene Jackson. Ballantyne also went on several solo piano concert tours in the 90's, 2000's and most recently, in 2014.
In 2013, Ballantyne toured Canada extensively with the Alan Jones Canadian All Star Sextet, featuring drummer Alan Jones (leader and compositions), Seamus Blake (tenor), Phil Dwyer (alto), Ingrid Jensen (trumpet), Brad Turner (trumpet, one city) and Tom Wakeling (bass).
Ballantyne performs often in noted jazz clubs in the Northeastern US, such as The Deer Head Inn (Delaware Water Gap), Small's (New York), Zinc Bar (New York), Cleopatra's Needle (New York), Mezzrow (New York), and Chris's Jazz Cafe (Philadelphia).
There were sold-out performances of the Bill Goodwin Trio, which Ballantyne is a member of, in Mezzrow Jazz Club in New York during early 2023.
Currently, Ballantyne plays in the Bill Goodwin trio (with bassist Evan Gregor), The Parker Trio (with drummer Adam Nussbaum and bassist Gene Perla), and tenor saxophonist Dan Wilkins' quartet. He also plays with guitarist Bill Washer as a duo called the "Mode for Joe Duo", which features the music of Joe Henderson, whom Washer played with from 1969 to 1972 and Ballantyne from 1989 to 1992. A live recording of the duo was released in the Spring of 2024 on the Deer Head Records label, followed by a new trio release ("Trio It Is") in the summer of 2024 on Vector Disc Records, with Bill Goodwin and Evan Gregor as follow-ups to their widely-acclaimed 2017 album.
An asterisk (*) indicates that the year is that of release.
| Year recorded | Title | Label | Personnel/Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1987* | Trio Jon Ballantyne | Jazzimage | with Terry Clarke, Drums; Jim Vivian, Bass. *JUNO Award Nominated [2] | |
| 1988 | Sky Dance | Justin Time | Quartet, with Joe Henderson (tenor sax), Neil Swainson (bass), Jerry Fuller (drums) *JUNO Award Winner [2] | |
| 1991 | A Musing | Justin Time | Some tracks solo piano; most tracks duo, with Paul Bley (piano); some tracks duo with Dave Laing (drums) | |
| 1994 | The Loose | Justin Time | Trio, with Drew Gress (bass), Billy Hart (drums) | |
| 1995 | Trio Live | NY Jam | Trio, with Drew Gress (bass), Billy Hart (drums) | |
| 1997 | Known/Unknown | NY Jam | Trio, with Drew Gress (bass), Gene Jackson (drums) | |
| 2000* | Round Again | NY Jam | ||
| 2005 | 4tets + Dewey Redman | Real Artist Works | With Douglas Yates, Jeff Hirshfield, Gene Jackson, Boris Kozlov; Dewey Redman (sax) added on some tracks | |
| 2002 | "The Banff Session" | Real Artist Works | With Boris Kozlov, Hugh Sicotte | |
| 2006* | Avenue Standard | Real Artist Works | Solo Piano *JUNO Award Winner [3] | |
| 2006 | Ever Since Now | Real Artist Works | Solo Piano | |
| 2012* | Twenty Accident Free Workdays | Real Artist Works | With Hugh Sicotte *JUNO AwardNominated [4] | |
| 2016 | "Live at Porter's" (*Unreleased, 2024 release imminent) | with Bill Goodwin, Drums; Tony Marino, Bass: Jon Ballantyne, Electric Piano | ||
| 2017 | "Trio" | Vector Disc Records | With Bill Goodwin, leader, drums; Evan Gregor, bass | |
| 2020 | "Duaxis" | Real Artist Works | With Devin Gray | |
| 2021 | "The Parker Trio" | PM Records | with Gene Perla, Adam Nussbaum | |
| 2024 | "The Mode for Joe Duo, Live at the Deer Head Inn" | Deer Head Records | Bill Washer, Jon Ballantyne | |
| 2024 | "Trio It Is" | Vector Disc Records (to be released Fall of 2024) | with Bill Goodwin, Drums; Evan Gregor, Bass |
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