About this Artist

Gyan Riley is a one-man American-music machine, amicably ranging across the fields of jazz, world music, and post- minimalism." (The New Yorker)

Gyan won his first guitar in a raffle when he was 12 years old, and it soon became difficult for his parents to wrestle it from his hands. He first immersed himself in classical guitar, gaining a scholarship to the San Francisco Conservatory of Music. In his twenties he turned to composition, and has since written music for the Kronos Quartet, New Music USA, the Carnegie Hall Corporation, the American Composers Forum, the New York Guitar Festival and documentary film makers Ken Burns and Lynn Novick. He has performed with Zakir Hussain, Lou Reed, John Zorn, Bill Frisell, the Kronos Quartet, Lee Ranaldo (Sonic Youth), Devendra Banhart, Julian Lage, Nico Muhly, Glenn Kotche (Wilco), Grammy Award-winning singer Arooj Aftab, and his father, the renowned composer Terry Riley.  Gyan performed with Paul Simon and Sabrina Carpenter for the 50th Anniversary of Saturday Night Live, and is a core member of Paul Simon’s band for the 2025 US Tour: A Quiet Celebration. Gyan has eight of his own CD titles and dozens of collaborative recordings. Winter Sun, his first album as a vocalist, was released on Feb. 7, 2025.