Bill Ryan - Hard Line

Bill Ryan’s music has roots in minimalism, jazz and popular music. It is energetic, evocative and deeply personal, and has been described as “…constantly threatening to burst at the seams, were those seams not so artfully structured...rarely has music this earthy been so elegant." [Gramophone Magazine] It has been performed in major venues across the country including Le Poisson Rouge, Symphony Space, and Lincoln Center (New York), BAM (Brooklyn), Woodruff Arts Center (Atlanta), the Atlas (Washington D.C.), Constellation (Chicago), DIA (Detroit), Initman Theater (Seattle), and the Hobby Center (Houston), and internationally in Europe, Asia, South America, and Australia. In addition to being heard on the concert stage, choreographers and dance companies throughout the country regularly use Bill’s music. Most recently he composed the music for The Secondary Colors, an evening-length collaboration with Karen Stokes Dance that was called “The most adventurous, if not spectacular, work this year” by Culture Map Houston. In 2004 he formed his own ensemble, Billband. Made up of performers equally at home in the classical, jazz, and pop worlds, the group has released two recordings on the Innova label to critical acclaim. Their latest release, Towards Daybreak, was a featured release on NPR, the Huffington Post, and iTunes Classical.

“When I was growing up, I fanatically listened to Maynard Ferguson, Bill Chase, Buddy Rich, Tower of Power, and any other band with a horn section. I loved how their lines punctuated the melody and harmony of the music, and especially loved how they served as an extension of the rhythm section. Whatever was played, the horn material was always the most interesting thing going on to me. Since I started composing, the energy of this music has always been a part of my own writing in various degrees. Hard Line brings this not-so-subtle world to the classical saxophone quartet--always driving forward, intensely rhythmic, often in extreme registers, screaming loud, and fast. The piece was written for the h2 quartet and premiered at the 2014 North American Saxophone Alliance Conference.” 
- Bill Ryan