Rich Pellegrin is a musician, scholar, and educator. A professor of music at the University of Florida, he lives in Seattle when not teaching in Gainesville.
"Moments of absolute bliss. . . . Pellegrin does as the great pianists do, providing encouragement and graceful touches in the background, before jumping forward to take solos that are by turns florid and cracked, balletic and modern."

​     – Downbeat Magazine

ALBUMS

HIGHLIGHTS
Creative Works Sampler

Some textures I've created that best reflect my current aesthetic.
  Jazz Solo

  From the album ​Three-Part Odyssey.

WRITINGS

Harmony versus Voicing: Modeling Local-Level Salience and Stability in Jazz after 1960
Journal of the German Society for Music Theory (ZGMTH), 2022​
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Winner of the 2024 Award for Excellence in Jazz Scholarship from the Society for Music Theory's jazz research group. 

In this article I compare the more salient features of jazz with what lies beneath the surface, presenting a new theory called Stable Norms and Salient Deviations. I then illustrate this theory with a detailed analysis of Robert Glasper’s performance of “North Portland.” Click HERE to view the online version of the article, which includes audio and video examples.
Salience, Common Tones, and Middleground Dissonance in the Fourth Chorus of Brad Mehldau's Improvisation on "All the Things You Are."
Intégral: The Journal of Applied Musical Thought (2023)

In this article I take a close look at Mehldau’s epic performance of “All the Things You Are” from Art of the Trio, Volume 4: Back at the Vanguard (1999). The essay uses layer analysis to show how dissonant tones create deep structure in Mehldau’s improvisation. Click HERE to view the online version of the article, which includes audio examples.

MUSIC


​“Topography”

Full trailer for the 2024 album Topography, Slow & Steady Records SS41​​

"An escape from the mind-numbing necessities of modern life… A subtle resonance that glows within the music's spaciousness imbues the soundscapes with a spirituality born of the natural world."
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 ​    – All About Jazz (★★★★), review of Topography
            Best Albums of 2024

​“Down”

​Title cut from the 2019 album Down, Origin/OA2 Records 22163.

"Moments of absolute bliss. . . . Pellegrin does as the great pianists do, providing encouragement and graceful touches in the background, before jumping forward to take solos that are by turns florid and cracked, balletic and modern."
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​     – Downbeat Magazine, review of Down

​“Improvisation XI”

​From the 2021 album Solitude, Origin/OA2 Records 22189.


"Magical and elusive. . . . Something special. . . . Pellegrin's imagination never flags. . . . This is music I'll be returning to both for deep listening and for inspiration."

​     – Jazz'halo (Belgium), review of Solitude

​“Intention”

Opening track of the 2014 album Episodes IV-VI, Origin/OA2 Records 22114.  Slow build, collective improvisation at its finest.

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“Strikingly original music. . . . Phenomenally sensitive and expressive. . . . A collective sound and spirit permeates the proceedings. . . . Pellegrin is clearly an artist to watch.”

​     – Earshot Jazz Magazine, review of Episodes, IV-VI

​Solo improvisation recital
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Excerpts from a 90-minute concert of free improvisation given at the University of Florida, September 19, 2019.

​“Improvisation I”

From the 2022 album Passage, Origin/OA2 Records 22199.

"Passage masterfully synthesizes these techniques, proving Pellegrin an improviser of uncommon sensitivity and offering an invaluable window into a creative mind at work."

​     – Earshot Jazz Magazine, review of Passage
@2023 Rich Pellegrin