Max Ridley, Bass
Max Ridley is a Boston-based musician, composer and teacher. He began his formal studies at Boston’s Arts high school. It was there also that he first fell in love with improvised music and the double bass. While at Boston Arts Academy, he was selected out of many other young musicians to perform at Boston’s Symphony Hall with the Boston Pops three years in a row. Also during these years, he joined the Berklee City Music program and in this program, was able to travel to New York to play for Quincy Jones and his foundation. He was awarded full-tuition scholarships to study at Berklee College of Music for both an undergraduate and graduate degree. He earned his graduate degree from Berklee’s Global Jazz Institute under the direction of pianist and educator Danilo Perez. He has also shared the stage with renowned jazz musicians, Kenny Werner, Ingrid Jensen, Bob Mover, Jason Palmer, George Garzone, Terri Lyne Carrington, Ra-Kalam Bob Moses and Perico Sambeat. He has performed in venues such as the Blue Note, Dizzy's Club Coca Cola at Lincoln Center, the Kennedy Center and the Umbria Jazz Festival. He has toured domestically and internationally and has also spent some time living in Valencia, Spain and considers it his second home as well as the other artistic community to which he belongs. Today, he is active in the musical community as sideman, leader and co-leader of groups in and around Boston.