I first saw him perform at a fringe gig during the 1996 Glasgow International Jazz Festival. I was immediately drawn to the front of the audience and marvelled at the 18 year-old’s trumpet playing which, while still a bit rough round the edges, demonstrated a fullness of tone in all registers, a pinpoint technique and noticeably remarkable ear. “Who the xxxx is that!” I exclaimed to my then fiancé – an onlooker turned round grabbing my left arm firmly and, looking me straight in the eye, stated in a strong Derry accent - “that’s Ryan Quigley and don’t you forget it”. I never did! Ken McCracken – Managing Director, DivaMusic.biz

Ryan Quigley was born in Northern Ireland and moved to Glasgow as an infant. He showed early promise as a trumpet player and left school to study at the RSAMD in Glasgow. Ryan wanted to focus on practical performance and experience all musical genres and he took an extended sabbatical from academic life (7 years!) to learn his trade, developing his craft in the context of all aspects of live and recorded music – jazz; rock & pop; soul; orchestral. During that time, he also developed his writing, arranging and keyboard playing skills.

In the early days, a talent that defied his age was applied with some ‘enthusiasm’. A now legendary example of this was at a Courtney Pine gig in Glasgow’s The Arches venue where Ryan was in the audience and decided to initiate an impromptu ‘call and response’ routine with an unsuspecting Courtney Pine. Ryan’s trumpet recalled Courtney’s improvised lines almost note for note – greeted fervently by both the audience and an appreciative Courtney!