Jon Ballantyne

Ballantyne started playing piano at an early age and began formal study at the age of six. His father Fred is a pianist and both parents are jazz enthusiasts and exposed him to the recordings of Miles Davis, Thelonious Monk, Bill Evans and Duke Ellington. His mother took him to an Oscar Peterson concert when he was six years-old.

He studied classical piano and played in a garage-band when he was a teenager as well as playing tenor saxophone and piano in high school concert and stage bands. He attended high school at City Park Collegiate Institute, (Saskatoon, Saskatchewan).

Ballantyne was awarded a scholarship to North Texas State University (attending from 1982-1985) where he played in the One O'clock Lab Band, and with visiting musicians such as Nat Adderley, Michael Brecker, Ron Carter, Peter Erskine, Joe Henderson, Elvin Jones, Dianne Reeves. Bob Mintzer, and Emily Remler. At the Banff Centre in Alberta, Canada, he worked played with John Abercrombie, Karl Berger, Ed Blackwell, Steve Coleman, Dave Holland, Lee Konitz, Dave Liebman, Eddie Marshall, Julian Priester, Cecil Taylor, Don Thompson, and Kenny Wheeler. In New York City, he studied with Kenny Barron, Richie Beirach, Joanne Brackeen, Hal Galperand Barry Harris.

Ballantyne has performed with and/or recorded with (alphabetically) Pepper Adams, Krister Andersson, Reid Anderson, Peter Bernstein, Ed Bickert, Paul Bley, Don Braden, Terry Clarke, Avishai Cohen, Al Cohn, Scott Colley, Buddy DeFranco, Ray Drummond, Phil Dwyer, Charles Fambrough, Jerry Fuller, George Garzone, Terry Gibbs, Mick Goodrick, Jimmy Giuffre, Nicole Glover, Bill Goodwin, Drew Gress, Al Grey, Craig Handy, Billy Hart, Roy Haynes, Joe Henderson, Vincent Herring, Ingrid Jensen, Roxy Koss, Joe LaBarbera, Chris Lewis, Joe Lovano, Mingus Big Band, Red Mitchell, Adam Niewood, Adam Nussbaum, Gene Perla, Ben Perowsky, P. J. Perry, Rich Perry, Dewey Redman, John Riley, Shorty Rogers, Jim Rotondi, Michael Stephans, Richard Stoltzman, Ben Street, E.J. Strickland, Neil Swainson, Lew Tabackin, Clark Terry, Ben Turner, and Phil Woods, to name a few.

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, most of them neighbors, 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.

He has conducted educational clinics at the Sibelius Academy in Helsinki and at the University of Colorado Boulder, University of Northern Colorado in Greeley, McGill University, University of Toronto, Concordia University, the University of Saskatchewan among others.

From 1999-2006, Ballantyne led an acclaimed quartet with 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 played 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 Band, 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).

There were acclaimed and sold-out performances of the Bill Goodwin Trio, which Ballantyne is a member of, at Mezzrow Jazz Club in New York earlier this year (2023).

Currently, Ballantyne plays in the Trios of Bill Goodwin (with bassist Evan Gregor), and Gene Perla (The Parker Trio, with drummer Adam Nussbaum).

In the summer of 2023, Ballantyne will perform concerts at the Rochester Jazz Festival with his trio along with special guest, saxophonist Rich Perry (June 30), and with the Bill Goodwin Trio (July 1).

Ballantyne received Juno Awards for the albums Sky Dance (featuring Joe Henderson), and Avenue Standard.

He and fellow Canadian musician Hugh Sicotte released an experimental album (delving into Hugh's real-time laptop-programs manipulations of Jon's playing of acoustic, electric and prepared piano) called Twenty Accident Free Workdays, which was nominated for a Juno Award.

An asterisk (*) indicates that the year is that of release.

• In the Key of Eh! Canadian Jazz Piano (1996)
• DUOS: The Jazz Sessions (1999)
• SOLOS: The Jazz Sessions (Bravo! Canada, 2006)

• JonBallantyne.com
• Official Myspace Page