Dan

Bio:

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View Concert Details at www.dancray.com
  View News Details at www.dancray.com
  About The Group. . .

The Dan Cray Trio is unique in that it relies on a collaborative effort rather than the singular vision that is more typically found in a piano trio. This in turn has allowed the group to rise above the pick-up band mentality that has come to dominate the jazz landscape. Because each musician is equally invested in the development of the music, the Trio is able to match the intensity and clarity of purpose that define the best jazz artists. Their innovative arrangements and group dynamic have led Cadence Magazine to rate them "as interesting, if not more, than the celebrated Bad Plus." The Trio's music has been featured on the hit television show "Gossip Girl," Michael Keaton's new movie "The Merry Gentleman," and the radio program Eight Forty-Eight with host Steve Edwards on Chicago's NPR station WBEZ. They've performed at the Chicago Jazz Festival and at venues around the country to critical success, and can be seen regularly around Chicago with the city's top vocalists and instrumentalists. The Trio has also been able to transfer this focus into tangible success, as their last 2 studio CDs ("No One" and "Save Us") spent over 10 weeks on the National and College Jazz Charts, while Chicago's NPR station WBEZ named each among the year's best in 2003 and 2005 respectively.

Dan Cray

Dan Cray Pianist Dan Cray is one of the most dynamic young jazz artists working today. Jazz Radio Berlin has hailed him as a "key figure when it comes to escorting jazz into the new millennium," while the Indianapolis Star enthused that his playing had "both the depth and the playfulness characteristic of jazz piano at its best." Dan was a finalist for both the 2004 American Pianists Association Cole Porter Fellowship and the 2003 Montreux Jazz Festival Solo Piano Competition, and has performed around the world with his group and others. For the past 10 years, Dan has led a group with good friends bassist Clark Sommers and drummer Greg Wyser-Pratte. Together they've released four CDs as the Dan Cray Trio; Who Cares (2001), No One (Blujazz 2003), Save Us (Blujazz 2005), and Over Here Over Heard (Crawdad 2008). (You can read more about the group above!) Dan has also been privileged to work with a number of other established jazz musicians and ensembles, including Eddie Johnson, Bobby Broom, Ira Sullivan, Orbert Davis, Eric Schneider, George Fludas, Kurt Elling, Ari Brown and the Chicago Jazz Orchestra. He also works frequently in a duo context with saxophonist Geof Bradfield. In early 2009, Dan joined the Chicago Improvisers Orchestra led by esteemed composer Elbio Barilari. Performances of multi-movement suites dedicated to Lincoln and Obama were performed at Millenium Park in Chicago and at other venues across the city. Dan is currently splitting his time between New York and Chicago, continuing to pursue his career while working on a Masters degree at NYU. He completed his undergraduate work at Northwestern University, where he studied with Donald Isaak and Michael Kocour.

Member Since:

March 15, 2005

Members:

Dan Cray, Piano-- Clark Sommers, Bass-- Greg Wyser-Pratte, Drums

Influences:

View Dan Cray Trio's EPK

BUY "Over Here Over Heard!"

Record Label:

Crawdad